Nouvelles

Ministry of Defence, Defence Equipment and Support, and The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP The multi-million-pound contract signed will see the UK own 35 stealth jets by end of 2022 with Britain manufacturing 15% of the overall global order for 255 aircraft. The UK is set to double its number of world-beating F-35 stealth jets after ordering 17 more aircraft, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced. The 17 new F-35B aircraft will be delivered between 2020 and 2022 and will complement the 16 British aircraft currently based at RAF Marham and in the US, as well as two additional aircraft which are already on order. Overall, the UK has committed to procure 138 aircraft over the life of the programme. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: I am delighted to confirm that we are doubling the size of our F-35 force into a formidable fleet of 35 stealth fighters. This is another massive order in the biggest defence programme in history. Our military and industry are playing a leading role in the F-35 programme. We are now building this game-changing capability that will soon be ready for frontline action. This programme is set to bring an immense boost of £35 billion into the British economy, and it will be welcome news to our firms that many more jets are now set for production. The 17 jets being ordered are part of a $6 billion contract for 255 aircraft being built for the global F-35 enterprise. The announcement is also good news for the UK economy, as British companies are building approximately 15% by value of all 3,000-plus F-35s planned for production. It is projected that around £35 billion will be contributed to the UK economy through the F-35 programme, with around 25,000 British jobs also being supported. CEO of Defence Equipment and Support, Sir Simon Bollom said: As the largest operator of F-35s outside of the US, the acquisition of 17 more Lightning aircraft underscores our commitment to the programme. This new contract demonstrates how our Armed Forces are equipped by DE&S with the latest equipment and support. News of this latest order comes as F-35B aircraft are currently embarked on HMS Queen Elizabeth for flying trials in the US, which continue to progress well. The fighter jets will be jointly manned by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy and can operate from land and sea, forming a vital part of Carrier Strike when operating from the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-to-double-f-35-fleet-with-17-jet-order-defence-secretary-announces

Télésystème Espace, les gouvernements du Canada et du Québec, le groupe européen Space Alliance, et la firme américaine KinetX composent l'équipe NorthStar MONTRÉAL, le 15 nov. 2018 /CNW/ - La marque laissée par les êtres humains sur la Terre menace la viabilité de la planète et la survie des générations futures. La cause de cette menace? Un manque d'outils de gestion et de surveillance de l'impact de l'activité humaine sur notre environnement. La société NorthStar Ciel & Terre Inc. (« NorthStar C&T ») est fière d'annoncer un financement supplémentaire de 52 millions de dollars canadiens octroyé par ses partenaires stratégiques pour le développement de NorthStar, une plate-forme globale d'information sur l'environnement qui transformera notre capacité à gérer l'incidence de l'activité humaine sur la Terre et ses ressources naturelles. Les gouvernements du Canada et du Québec injectent chacun 13 millions de dollars dans le projet, et le solde provient des partenaires privés qui comprennent la société montréalaise Télésystème Espace inc. - l'actionnaire majoritaire de NorthStar C&T - et le groupe européen Space Alliance. Formé par Telespazio et Thales Alenia Space, Space Alliance est un partenariat stratégique unissant leurs sociétés mères Leonardo et Thales, deux importants acteurs de l'industrie aérospatiale d'Italie et de France. Ce montant de 52 millions s'ajoute aux 31 millions de dollars canadiens déjà contribué par les partenaires fondateurs canadiens et américains de NorthStar C&T. La plate-forme NorthStar, basée sur une constellation de 40 satellites, sera dotée de capacités de captation et de transmission hautement sophistiquées. NorthStar permettra de nouvelles percées en matière de gestion continue de l'environnement, notamment la détection de la pollution, l'évaluation de la santé des océans et des cours d'eau planétaires, l'amélioration de la productivité de l'agriculture, la prévention des feux de forêt, et la surveillance des pipelines d'hydrocarbures pour éviter les déversements et la pollution. Déployés en orbite autour de la Terre, les capteurs de la plate-forme NorthStar assureront aussi le suivi des débris orbitaux pour réduire les risques de collision et protéger les satellites et autres biens spatiaux de grande valeur. « Notre objectif ultime est de mieux outiller l'humanité pour préserver la santé de notre planète », explique Stewart Bain, chef de la direction de NorthStar C&T. « L'information fournie par NorthStar permettra aux citoyens, à l'industrie et aux gouvernements de mesurer et de gérer notre impact sur les ressources naturelles de la Terre, de manière à créer un monde plus durable, aujourd'hui et pour les générations futures. La contribution de Télésystème Espace, des gouvernements du Canada et du Québec, et de la Space Alliance est essentielle au succès de notre mission. » Selon le ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et du Développement économique et ministre responsable de Développement économique Canada pour les régions du Québec, l'honorable Navdeep Bains, « le projet de NorthStar est un bon exemple de la capacité du secteur spatial canadien de stimuler la mise au point d'innovations transformatrices et de trouver des solutions à des problèmes concrets. L'investissement de notre gouvernement contribuera à maintenir la place du Québec à l'avant-garde des technologies de l'information de pointe, tout en créant de bons emplois pour la classe moyenne et en permettant à l'économie du pays de soutenir la concurrence à l'échelle mondiale. » « La croissance de l'industrie aérospatiale au Québec est directement liée aux efforts d'innovation des entreprises, selon Pierre Fitzgibbon, ministre de l'Économie et de l'Innovation et ministre responsable de la région de Lanaudière. Notre gouvernement réitère son appui à l'essor de cette industrie essentielle à l'économie du Québec, en donnant les moyens à des entreprises novatrices de réaliser leurs ambitions. C'est pourquoi, le gouvernement du Québec est fier de soutenir le projet de NorthStar, qui engendrera de nouvelles expertises et des emplois de qualité dans le secteur de l'aérospatiale, mais aussi dans le secteur des technologies de l'information et des communications. » Dans une déclaration commune de Space Alliance, Luigi Pasquali et Jean-Loïc Galle, respectivement chefs de la direction de Telespazio et de Thales Alenia Space, se sont dits enchantés de ce partenariat stratégique : « Cet investissement dans la plate-forme NorthStar est parfaitement aligné à l'offre internationale de Space Alliance, et nous sommes convaincus que cette solution novatrice profitera à nos clients en répondant à leurs besoins prioritaires. » Les services commerciaux d'observation terrestre et de suivi des objets spatiaux sont des secteurs en croissance rapide, qui annoncent le futur de l'économie spatiale tant au Canada qu'à l'échelle mondiale. Lorsqu'elle sera entièrement opérationnelle, la plate-forme NorthStar créera quelque 400 emplois directs hautement qualifiés et environ 1 200 emplois indirects dans les domaines des mégadonnées et de l'analytique, et soutiendra l'expansion des industries de l'aérospatiale, de la conception de satellites et de capteurs, au Canada comme à l'étranger. Les données recueillies seront rendues disponibles par l'intermédiaire de la plate-forme AGILE (Applications for Global Innovation and Leadership) de NorthStar, en collaboration avec une communauté mondiale de développeurs d'applications. À l'échelle internationale, les différents centres AGILE alimenteront des groupes d'activité fondés sur les mégadonnées et l'analyse prédictive dans le but de créer la première génération d'applications intelligentes de protection de l'environnement. Comme le souligne le chef de la direction de NorthStar, le premier centre AGILE verra le jour à Montréal, au Canada. « En raison de son impressionnant bassin de professionnels des technologies de l'information, de l'intelligence artificielle et de l'aérospatiale, ainsi que de sa qualité de vie qui attire les candidats internationaux les plus prometteurs, Montréal représente la ville idéale où baser la plate-forme NorthStar », précise M. Bain. Le financement octroyé par le gouvernement du Canada comprend 9,5 millions provenant du Fonds stratégique pour l'innovation, et 3,5 millions offerts par Développement économique Canada pour les régions du Québec. Le gouvernement du Québec investit pour sa part 13 millions par l'entremise du Fonds du développement économique (FDE). Avec les montants annoncés aujourd'hui, NorthStar C&T a recueilli un total de 83 millions de dollars canadiens pour sa plate-forme NorthStar. À PROPOS DE NORTHSTAR Faisant appel à une constellation de 40 satellites équipés de capteurs hyperspectraux, infrarouges et optiques, la plate-forme NorthStar détectera et analysera en continu la chimie fine des objets sur la surface complète de la Terre. Gr'ce à une évaluation de données et une analyse prédictive sophistiquées, NorthStar fournira des résultats d'observation de la Terre avec une dimension, une précision, une richesse et une rapidité jamais vues auparavant. Les services de connaissance de la conjoncture spatiale offerts par NorthStar permettront d'identifier et de suivre plus de 300 000 objets en orbite autour de la Terre, qui sont classés comme débris spatiaux, et d'en prévoir la trajectoire. Cette avancée améliore considérablement les capacités actuelles de surveillance, et revêt une importance cruciale pour l'industrie satellitaire en expansion, exploitée par les secteurs public et privé. Les actionnaires fondateurs de NorthStar C&T comprennent Télésystème Ltée et KinetX Inc. Située à Montréal, la société de portefeuille des secteurs des médias et de la technologie Télésystème est un chef de file des télécommunications internationales et qui soutient des entreprises technologiques en démarrage et connaissant une forte croissance. KinetX Inc est une société d'ingénierie américaine spécialisée en dynamique orbitale et à l'origine du concept NorthStar. Télésystème Espace Inc., l'actionnaire majoritaire de NorthStar Ciel & Terre Inc., est une entreprise canadienne détenue conjointement par Télésystème Ltée et un affilié de Rogers Telecommunications Limited (RTL), créée pour aider à définir et appuyer le lancement de la plate-forme globale d'information sur l'environnement NorthStar. RTL est une société de portefeuille privée de la famille Rogers qui, conjointement avec des sociétés affiliées, contrôle Rogers Communications Inc., une des plus grandes entreprises de télécommunications et de médias au Canada. SOURCE NorthStar Earth & Space Renseignements : Site Web : northstar-data.com; Contact médias : Jean-Philippe Arseneau, 1 514 953-8597, jean-philippe.arseneau@northstar-data.com https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/northstar-ciel--terre-inc-annonce-des-partenariats-et-un-financement-supplementaire-de-52-millions-de-dollars-pour-sa-plate-forme-globale-dinformation-sur-lenvironnement-700597551.html

Funding comes on top of $291M announced earlier this year to hire staff, buy equipment Kathleen Harris · CBC News The federal government will spend nearly $90 million to build and repair police stations in First Nation and Inuit communities. The money is meant to address "pressing needs" in policing infrastructure by repairing, renovating or replacing facilities, many of them in remote or fly-in communities. The program, which is cost-shared with the provinces and territories, will help ensure policing infrastructure complies with current building, policing facility and health and safety standards. The first two-year phase of the $88.6 million program will fund communities in need of urgent repairs, while a second phase will fund projects based on merit. The funding will roll out over seven years. The federal government will launch a bidding process to assess First Nation and Inuit police service facilities, which will help guide the selection of phase two infrastructure projects. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the First Nations Policing Program serves about 400,000 people in 450 communities through "culturally relevant" policing. "Building on our government's major investments in new officers, salaries and equipment, we are making new investments in policing facilities so officers can do their jobs properly and keep their communities safe," he said in a statement. Indigenous forces complain of underfunding The money announced today comes on top of the $291 million over five years Goodale announced earlier this year for First Nations policing operations. That announcement came after years of complaints and legal challenges from Indigenous police forces that claim they've been chronically underfunded. At the time, Goodale said the figure nearly triples the basic amount earmarked in 2017, representing the largest federal financial commitment since 1991. The money will go toward improving salaries, hiring new officers and buying new equipment. Some underfunded forces had been struggling to replace expired bulletproof vests and update officer training. Kent Elson, a lawyer who has acted in cases involving policing in Indigenous communities, said the new funding represents "good progress" but doesn't go far enough to fix widespread problems. He said the funding ought to follow an essential service model based on need. Deadly conditions "If a police station is unsafe, then you have to replace it," he said. "You can't just put it on a waiting list and say, 'Sorry we're maxed out this year.' "People have died and more would die if the stations are not adequate." Elson said conditions have improved since a deadly fire at an isolated northern Ontario reserve's police station in 2006, but the inequities remain "stark." Ricardo Wesley, 22, and James Goodwin, 20, burned to death on Jan. 8, 2006, while being held for public intoxication at the Kashechewan First Nation police detachment. Community constable pilot The RCMP has a special pilot program to address gaps in policing, including Indigenous communities, but a recent evaluation of that program found that it is not focused on its mandate. The Community Constable pilot program currently has 19 armed, uniformed peace officers with local knowledge of the communities they serve, including their languages, cultures and geography. While the program's mandate was to prevent crime through community engagement, the evaluation found that most of the constables weren't clear on the mandate, and participated in more enforcement activities than prevention activities. RCMP Staff Sgt. Tania Vaughan said community constables are meant to enhance, not replace, existing RCMP services in a community. "At this time, the community constable program remains a pilot program, and no final decision on its future has been made," she said in an email. "The purpose of the evaluation was to provide senior management with a neutral, timely and evidence-based assessment of the pilot program to help inform decision-making on its permanency. The RCMP is now better informed in order to enhance the CC Program, and make changes to it that will better serve our communities." Vaughan said the RCMP is responding to the evaluation by responding to questions and concerns from the community constables and developing a clearly defined program mandate. It will also better track performance information and formalize the governance structure, roles and responsibilities. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/first-nations-policing-infrastructure-1.4566311

Communiqué de presse Le 14 novembre 2018 Saint Hubert (Québec) Garde côtière canadienne Le gouvernement du Canada soutient l'épanouissement d'un personnel bien formé et hautement qualifié pour servir au sein de l'industrie aérospatiale de demain, en faisant don de biens excédentaires de la Garde côtière à des établissements d'enseignement partout au Canada. Ces dons permettent d'aider à appuyer la formation en entretien d'aéronefs au Canada, en fournissant aux étudiants une expérience pratique. Au nom de l'honorable Jonathan Wilkinson, ministre des Pêches, des Océans et de la Garde côtière canadienne, Sherry Romanado, secrétaire parlementaire de la ministre des Aînés, et députée de Longueuil–Charles-LeMoyne, a annoncé aujourd'hui que l'École nationale d'aérotechnique, affiliée au cégep Édouard-Montpetit, de même que neuf autres établissements d'enseignement ou de formation dans tout le Canada, a reçu un hélicoptère Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm BO-105 de la Garde côtière. Les dix hélicoptères BO-105 ont été en service à la Garde côtière canadienne pendant plus de 30 ans. Le premier hélicoptère BO-105 a été acquis par la Garde côtière en avril 1985, et le tout dernier, en avril 1988. La flotte d'hélicoptères joue un rôle essentiel à l'appui des programmes tels que le déglaçage, la communication maritime, les aides à la navigation, l'intervention environnementale, la protection des voies navigables, la conservation et la protection, la science et le soutien aux autres ministères du gouvernement, au besoin. Dans le cadre du Plan de renouvellement de la flotte de la Garde côtière, le gouvernement du Canada a acquis et déployé 22 nouveaux hélicoptères, incluant 15 hélicoptères de transport de léger tonnage (Bell Epi 429) et sept hélicoptères de transport de moyen tonnage (Bell Epi 412). Citations « Je suis fier que ces hélicoptères de la Garde côtière aideront les étudiants partout au pays à se perfectionner, en leur offrant la possibilité d'acquérir une expérience pratique. Ces actifs ont une longue histoire et font partie du patrimoine de la Garde côtière. Je suis heureux que les générations à venir pourront en profiter pour acquérir l'expertise nécessaire en entretien d'aéronefs de haut niveau ». L'honorable Jonathan Wilkinson, ministre des Pêches, des Océans et de la Garde côtière canadienne « Les étudiants de l'École nationale d'aérotechnique bénéficieront du don du gouvernement du Canada. Il n'y a rien de tel que de pouvoir offrir aux étudiants la possibilité de se perfectionner et d'améliorer leurs compétences en apprenant directement sur des biens réels de la Garde côtière ». Sherry Romanado, secrétaire parlementaire de la ministre des Aînés, et députée de Longueuil–Charles-LeMoyne « L'École nationale d'aérotechnique (ÉNA) compte parmi les dix établissements d'enseignement au Canada ayant reçu un BO-105 en cadeau. En s'ajoutant aux 37 aéronefs de l'ÉNA, cela permet d'accroître la valeur pédagogique des laboratoires et des activités pratiques, dans les hangars, sur un nouveau type d'hélicoptère. Nous sommes très reconnaissants envers la Garde côtière canadienne pour ce don qui permet d'offrir à nos étudiants une formation encore plus collée aux besoins de l'industrie tout en renouvelant notre flotte d'appareils ». Sylvain Lambert, directeur général du cégep Édouard-Montpetit et directeur de l'ÉNA Faits en bref Au total, dix établissements d'enseignement ou de formation approuvés par Transports Canada et offrant des programmes pour techniciens d'entretien d'aéronefs, partout au Canada, ont reçu comme don un hélicoptère BO-105. La Garde côtière canadienne a terminé la construction et la livraison de 15 hélicoptères de transport léger Bell 429 et de 7 hélicoptères de transport moyen Bell 412EPI dans le cadre de son Plan de renouvellement de la flotte toujours en cours. Les 22 nouveaux hélicoptères ont été déployés aux bases de la Garde côtière partout au pays. La Garde côtière canadienne construit actuellement un simulateur de vol complet qui doit offrir une plateforme pour la formation sur la nouvelle flotte. Les établissements bénéficiaires utiliseront les hélicoptères BO-105 pour la formation pratique sur les programmes de mécanique et d'ingénierie. https://www.canada.ca/fr/peches-oceans/nouvelles/2018/11/le-gouvernement-du-canada-fait-don-dhelicopteres-excedentaires-de-la-garde-cotiere.html

by Yves Engler Will they cancel the contract or won't they? In order to understand Ottawa's decision making process regarding General Dynamics' massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia one must look closely at industry lobbyists. While the Trudeau government is under substantial public pressure to rescind the $15 billion Light Armored Vehicle sale, to do so would challenge the company and the broader corporate lobby. Last week a senior analyst with the GD-financed Canadian Global Affairs Institute boldly defended the LAV sale. "There has been no behavior by the Saudis to warrant canceling this contract", said David Perry to the London Free Press. Perry must have missed the Kingdom's violence in Yemen, repression in eastern Saudi Arabia and consulate murder in Istanbul. Two weeks ago Perry told another interviewer that any move to reverse the LAV sale would have dire consequences. "There would be geopolitical implications. There would be a huge number of economic implications, both immediately and in the wider economy... canceling this, I think, would be a big step because as far as I understand the way that we look at arms exports, it would effectively mean that we've changed the rules of the game." Amidst an earlier wave of criticism towards GD's LAV sale, the Canadian Global Affairs Institute published a paper titled "Canada and Saudi Arabia: A Deeply Flawed but Necessary Partnership" that defended the $15-billion deal. At the time of its 2016 publication at least four of the institute's "fellows" wrote columns justifying the sale, including an opinion piece by Perry published in the Globe and Mail Report on Business that was headlined "Without foreign sales, Canada's defense industry would not survive." Probably Canada's most prominent foreign policy think tank, Canadian Global Affairs Institute is a recipient of GD's "generous" donations. Both GD Land Systems and GD Mission Systems are listed among its "supporters" in recent annual reports, but the exact sum they've given the institute isn't public. The Conference of Defence Associations Institute also openly supports GD's LAV sale. Representatives of the Ottawa-based lobby/think tank have writtencommentaries justifying the LAV sale and a 2016 analysis concluded that "our own Canadian national interests, economic and strategic, dictate that maintaining profitable political and trade relations with ‘friendly' countries like Saudi Arabia, including arms sales, is the most rational option in a world of unpleasant choices." Of course, the Conference of Defence Associations Institute also received GD money and its advisory board includes GD Canada's senior director of strategy and government relations Kelly Williams. Full article: https://original.antiwar.com/yves_engler/2018/11/13/saudi-arabia-and-the-canadian-arms-lobby/

NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $22,712,874,822 not-to-exceed undefinitized contract modification to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, firm-fixed-price advanced acquisition contract (N00019-17-C-0001) for 255 aircraft. This modification provides for the production and delivery of 106 F-35 aircraft for the U.S. services (64 F-35As Air Force; 26 F-35Bs Marine Corps; 16 F-35Cs Navy); 89 F-35s for non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants (71 F-35As, 18 F-35 Bs); and 60 F-35s for Foreign Military Sales customers (60 F-35As). The U.S. aircraft quantities are for the Lot 12 program of record plus fiscal 2018/fiscal 2019 aircraft quantity congressional adds. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (57 percent); El Segundo, California (14 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (9 percent); Cameri, Italy (4 percent); Orlando, Florida (4 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (3 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (3 percent); San Diego, California (2 percent); Nagoya, Japan (2 percent); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2023. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement funds (Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy) in the amount of $3,505,522,468 (59 percent); non-DoD participant funds in the amount of $1,578,531,164 (26 percent); and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $916,667,000 (15 percent) for a total of $6,000,720,632 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. Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, New York, is awarded a $382,000,000 not-to-exceed, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, undefinitized contract that provides for the production and delivery of eight MH-60R aircraft as well as associated systems engineering and program management support. Work will be performed in Owego, New York (52 percent); Stratford, Connecticut (40 percent); and Troy, Alabama (8 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2020. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $147,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-19-C-0013). Bethel-Garney Federal JV,* Anchorage, Alaska (N62473-19-D-1201); Frawner Corp.,* Anchorage, Alaska (N62473-19-D-1202); Transtar-Orion JV,* San Diego, California (N62473-19-D-1203); Pate Construction Co., Inc.,* Pueblo West, Colorado (N62473-19-D-1204); KEAR Civil Corp.,* Phoenix, Arizona (N62473-19-D-1205); West Point – Granite JV LLC,* Tucson, Arizona (N62473-19-D-1206); and Central Environmental Inc.,* Anchorage, Alaska (N62473-19-D-1207), are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for new construction, renovation, and repair primarily by design-build or secondarily by design-bid-build, of wet utilities projects at various government installations located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years for all seven contracts combined is $249,000,000. Types of projects may include, but are not limited to: water, steam, wastewater, storm sewer, pumping stations, treatment plants, storage tanks, and related work. All structures (including buildings) that are integral parts of the water, steam, wastewater, pumping stations, treatment plants and storage tanks are included. This contract will not include environmental remediation, waterfront/marine construction or petroleum, oils, and lubricant systems construction. No task orders are being issued at this time. All work on these contracts will be performed at various government installations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of responsibility including, but not limited to, California (90 percent); Arizona (6 percent); Nevada (1 percent); Utah (1 percent); Colorado (1 percent); and New Mexico (1 percent). The terms of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of November 2023. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $35,000 are obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps); and Navy working capital funds. This contract was competitively procured as a small business set-aside procurement via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 16 proposals received. These seven contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. The NAVFAC Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Kaman Precision Products Inc., Orlando, Florida; and Middletown, Connecticut, has been awarded a $52,026,000 firm-fixed-price modification (P00009) to contract FA8681-18-C-0009 for the Joint Programmable Fuzes. The contract modification is for the purchase of an additional 15,000 fuzes being produced under the basic contract. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida; and Middletown, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by June 1, 2020. Fiscal 2016, 2017 and 2018 ammunition procurement funds in the amount of $52,026,000 are being obligated at time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $225,422,234. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi, has been awarded a $35,000,000 firm-fixed- price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification to contracts FA8106-17-D-0001 for contractor logistic support of the Air Force C-12 fleet. Work will be performed in Madison, Mississippi; San Angelo, Texas; Okmulgee, Oklahoma; Buenos Ares, Argentina; Gaborone, Botswana; Brasilia, Brazil; Bogota, Columbia; Cairo, Egypt; Accra, Ghana; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Budapest, Hungary; Joint Base Andrews, Maryland; Nairobi, Kenya; Rabat, Morocco; Manila, Philippines; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Bangkok, Thailand; Ankara, Turkey; Edwards Air Force Base, California; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Yokota Air Base, Japan. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2018. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $2,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award. Total face value of obligated funds for this contract is $30,913,890. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY McRae Industries Inc.,* Mt. Gilead, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $7,558,498 modification (P00003) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-18-D-1011) with four one-year option periods for hot-weather combat boots. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Nov. 14, 2019, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1690639/source/GovDelivery/

Like several of its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) neighbors, Bahrain is gearing up for a rapid modernization of its military capabilities. Having signed up to purchase new-build Block 70-standard F-16 Fighting Falcons last year from Lockheed Martin, the Gulf island state also is investing in new attack helicopters in the form of Bell's AH-1Z Viper and has taken delivery of its first tactical airlifter, one of two ex-British Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130J Hercules. By ... http://aviationweek.com/defense/fighters-and-attack-helicopters-center-bahrain-modernization

By Reuters WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin Corp has won a preliminary contract valued at up to $22.7 billion to build a batch of 255 F-35 jets for the U.S. military and its allies, the U.S. Defense Department said on Wednesday. The department said the deal would allow Lockheed to receive $6 billion in funding immediately, a move aimed at preventing major delays in production of the new stealthy fighter jets. This contract is the first to lock in multiyear commitments from U.S. allies as Lockheed anticipates that buying components in larger quantities will help move the price of the most common F-35 jet to below $80 million by 2020. The most common variation of the jet, the F-35 A, had a price of $89.2 million after the most recent round of contract negotiations announced in September. Lockheed is developing and building three models of the new warplanes for the U.S. military and 10 other countries that have signed up to buy the jets: Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Belgium. The Pentagon's chief arms buyer, Ellen Lord, told Reuters on Tuesday that she expected to finalize the interim terms of the deal, known as an "undefinitized contract action" or UCA, with Lockheed, its No. 1 supplier, by the spring of next year. A Lockheed representative said: "This is a smart approach for the taxpayer, the warfighter and for industry." According to the Pentagon, Wednesday's agreement means that U.S. allies buy 149 jets over the three-year period. In the United States' one-year deal, it will buy the remaining 106 jets for delivery beginning in 2020. The U.S. government will continue to buy jets in annual contracts, but is also purchasing components for future-year jets and will also benefit from the economies of scale allowed under the multiyear contract. The three-year deal, known as the "block buy" among the United States and allies, has been said to be worth more than $37 billion and encompass a record 440 jets. Wednesday's contract agrees to a high-water mark of $22.7 billion for all of the 255 jets, but that dollar figure is expected to come down during the negotiations while the jet count is considered a minimum commitment. The interim payment authorized on Wednesday will be deducted from the total contract when the two sides reach a final agreement. The Pentagon is negotiating a separate contract with Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, for engines to power the jets. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis) https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/14/business/14reuters-usa-lockheed-pentagon.html

By: Sebastian Sprenger BERLIN — Germany may be committed to a project with France aimed at building a new aircraft for Europe by 2040, but don't expect anything drastic or sudden to happen out of Berlin. That was the principal message delivered here to defense industry leaders by German Air Force Brig. Gen. Gerald Funke, who oversees Germany's planning for the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS. “Don't trust anyone who says they can make predictions about the characteristics of an air system in 2040,” Funke said at the International Fighter industry conference on Wednesday. That attitude means Germany is expected to wait as long as possible before closing the design phase of the envisioned weapon and moving toward production. “We need [a] sensible starting point that's worth spending money on,” Funke told Defense News on the sidelines of the conference. “The time pressure is not as acute as industry presents it.” Funke expects money to start flowing toward the project in 2019, when initial concept studies begin to refine plans for the weapon. He said it remains to be seen whether the initial investment will exceed €25 million (U.S. $28 million), the cutoff for parliamentary approval in Germany. Exactly what the new combat jet will look like is still up in the air. But a set of key “design drivers,” as Funke called them, has emerged and are meant to shape the types of questions analysts will pose as they forge a collection of actual capabilities. Autonomy will be a key feature for the jet and its accompanying drones, though never to a degree that humans are no longer involved in striking targets. Officials want it to be highly interoperable with allied aircraft and weapons, even older ones, and able to easily pass data between them. Costs, both for buying the system and operating it, also will be key considerations, especially in Germany, Funke said. The catchphrases “modularity” and “software” also are on the forefront of requirements developers. That means the Air Force eventually wants to have a base aircraft configuration that can be programmed on the fly for specific missions, like strike, reconnaissance or inflicting some sort of cyber damage to future foes. For Germany, a high degree of “tailorability” is a must-have feature, Funke said. Airbus, meanwhile, has some ideas about the physical appearance of the system and its associated components. According to the company, a typical FCAS fleet includes so-called command aircraft of varying configurations, surrounded by autonomous “remote carrier” drones that work in swarms to do anything from attack to surveillance. Additional, smaller unmanned flying sensors provide yet another layer of eyes and ears for the group, with support aircraft for aerial refueling or transport and even space assets counted as part of the FCAS family. The most important component is something called the “combat cloud ecosystem,” a kind of brain connecting all FCAS nodes through secure data arteries. Airbus project lead Bruno Fichefeux argued time is of the essence in developing the program, even though the envisioned fielding time is still decades away. “The technology needs time to mature,” he said. “If we mean the program seriously,” France and Germany should soon begin spending money on it. The Spanish military, meanwhile, is keeping an eye on the FCAS program and will decide at a later point whether to join. While Germany appears eager to pave a path for Madrid's participation, Spain is still keeping its options open, a Spanish defense official said. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/11/14/with-plans-for-drone-sidekicks-europes-futuristic-jet-program-slowly-comes-into-focus