Nouvelles

ARMY Brayman Construction Corp., Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $319,592,539 firm-fixed-price contract for labor, rehabilitation of recreational areas, equipment, supervision and modifications to the stilling basin of the Bluestone Dam in Hinton, West Virginia. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Hinton, West Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2029. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance, civil works funds in the amount of $319,592,539 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington, West Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91237-20-C-0004). Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $12,847,708 cost-no-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for information technology support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,847,708 were obligated at the time of the award. 411th Contracting Support Brigade, Seoul, South Korea, is the contracting activity (W91QVN-20-F-0157). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Simulab Corp., Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a maximum $36,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hospital equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with 102 responses received. Location of performance is Washington, with a Jan. 22, 2025, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-20-D-0029). NAVY PAE Applied Technologies LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $32,967,099 modification (P00342) to a previously awarded contract N66604-05-C-1277 to extend the period of performance for six months and increase target cost for Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC). AUTEC is the Navy's large-area, deep-water, undersea test and evaluation range. Underwater research, testing and evaluation of anti-submarine weapons, sonar tracking and communications are the predominant activities conducted at AUTEC. The contractor performs AUTEC range operations support services and maintenance of facilities and range systems. In addition, the contractor is responsible for operating a self-sufficient one square mile Navy outpost. This modification increases the value of the basic contract by $32,967,099. The new total value is $885,984,261. Work will be performed in Andros Island, Commonwealth of the Bahamas (80%); and West Palm Beach, Florida (20%), and is expected to be completed in September 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of this modification award. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport Division, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity. https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2064381/source/GovDelivery/

EXCLUSIF Pierre-Eric Pommellet, directeur général de Thales, a été choisi par l'APE pour succéder à Hervé Guillou à la direction de Naval Group. Son nom doit encore être avalisé par l'Elysée. D'autres noms ont circulé, comme celui du directeur général adjoint de Naval Group Alain Guillou, celui du directeur des programmes Olivier de la Bourdonnaye ou celui de Marie-Pierre de Bailliencourt, ancienne DG du groupe, qui avait été un des grands artisans du contrat du siècle des sous-marins australiens. Le nom de Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas, directeur de cabinet d'Edouard Philippe et ancien de Thales et Zodiac, avait aussi été cité, au grand agacement de l'intéressé. Le scénario d'une prolongation d'Hervé Guillou a aussi été évoqué : celui-ci étant touché par la limité d''ge de 65 ans le 24 mars prochain, un tel projet nécessiterait un changement des statuts du groupe. Pierre-Eric Pommellet est tout sauf un inconnu pour le petit milieu de la défense. Né à Brest, ce polytechnicien affable, surnommé « PEP », a débuté à la Direction générale de l'armement en 1990, avant de passer deux ans à la DCN (Direction des constructions navales), l'ancêtre de Naval Group. Un passage en cabinet ministériel plus tard, chez Jean-Pierre Raffarin au ministère de l'artisanat, du commerce et des PME, il entre chez Thales dont il gravit peu à peu les échelons : directeur de l'usine du Haillan (Gironde), directeur des équipements militaires, directeur de la division aérospatiale, puis de celle des systèmes de mission de défense. Lors du départ du patron de Thales Jean-Bernard Lévy vers EDF fin 2014, Pierre-Eric Pommellet est un des favoris pour le fauteuil de PDG. Il peut même se prévaloir du soutien de Dassault Aviation, actionnaire à 25% du groupe. Mais le conseil lui préfère finalement Patrice Caine. Cette déception n'empêchera pas les deux hommes de bien travailler ensemble : Patrice Caine nommera même Pierre-Eric Pommellet directeur général en charge des opérations, en clair numéro deux du groupe. « L'entente entre les deux hommes est très bonne », assure un connaisseur de la maison Thales. https://www.challenges.fr/entreprise/defense/le-numero-deux-de-thales-favori-pour-diriger-naval-group_695054

The U.S. Air Force soon could deploy a radar-evading target drone. One that easily could evolve into a front-line warplane. California-based Sierra Technical revealed its prototype drone in photos the company released in mid-January 2020. The Fifth-Generation Aerial Target, or 5GAT, is roughly the size of a T-38 training jet and like the T-38 boasts two J85 engines. The prototype with its sharp angles bears a passing resemblance to an F-22 stealth fighter, albeit one without a cockpit. The company plans to fly the drone for the first time in early 2020. The Air Force wants the 5GAT drone for target practice in order to help fighter pilots prepare for dogfights with Russian and Chinese stealth fighters. The drone's development is part of a wider Air Force effort to provide realistic training to its pilots for doing battle with the latest radar-evading warplanes. The service also plans to organize some of its F-35 stealth fighters into an “adversary” squadron that would play the role of the enemy during realistic war games. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/check-out-stealth-target-drone-it-could-be-warplane-disguise-115936

AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., doing business as Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, San Diego, California, is being awarded a $217,160,682 modification (P00021) to previously-awarded base contract FA8726-18-C-0005 to extend the contract by an additional year. This contract provides for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node payload operation and support for payload equipment and services. Work will be performed at San Diego, California, and undisclosed overseas locations, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 23, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $20,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $570,165,699. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Ft. Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $7,794,188 modification under modification 21 to previously-awarded contract FA8650-16-C-7656 for research and development. The contract modification is for the incorporation of additional within-scope work to further the technologies established under current System of Systems Integration Technology and Experimentation program. Work will be performed at Ft. Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $52,337,677. The Air Force Research Lab, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. NAVY M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia, is awarded a $98,000,492 single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity performance-based contract (N65236-20-D-8001) with provisions for cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task/delivery orders. This contract is for the design, development and sustainment of electronic security systems and emergency management systems solutions for Department of Defense and federal agencies at shore installations worldwide. The contract will provide rapid and streamlined procurement of electronic security systems and emergency management systems solutions where there are emerging or special security requirements that require rapid response in order to mitigate and limit risk exposure to cyber and physical security threats. The contract includes a five-year ordering period. Contract funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (77%); and Charleston, South Carolina (23%), and is expected to be completed by January 2026. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured by full and open competition via the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command-Electronic Commerce Central website and the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one timely offer received. Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Florida Ordnance Corp.,* Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $48,586,695 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for M88 Recovery Vehicle diesel cylinder heads. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Florida, with a March 26, 2026, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0038). UPDATE: Enterprise Cabling Inc., Ocean City, Maryland (SPRBL1-20-D-0017), has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract issued against solicitation SPRBL1-19-R-0042 announced Dec. 18, 2019. ARMY Scientia Global Inc.,* Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a $12,149,039 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Iraq) contract to procure combat effective Digital Mobile Radio Tier III equipment, development, deployment, training and support services. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Erbil, Iraq; and Melbourne, Florida, with an estimated completion date of April 29, 2022. Fiscal 2017 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $12,149,039 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-20-C-5012). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2063144/source/GovDelivery/

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The first field test of the U.S. Air Force's experimental Advanced Battle Management System in December was a success, with about 26 out of 28 capabilities showing some semblance of functionality during a recent exercise, the service's acquisition chief said Tuesday. But the service will seek to be more ambitious during a second demonstration in April, which will focus on space and bring in elements from U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command, said Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. "I am thrilled to say that 26 out of 28 things work. That is too high of a success rate at this point in time, but I'll take it. We should be taking more risk than that,” he told reporters during a roundtable. The three-day test took place at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and involved a potential cruise missile attack on the United States simulated by QF-16 drones. Through the exercise, Air Force F-22 jets, Air Force and Navy F-35 fighters, the Navy destroyer Thomas Hudner, an Army unit equipped with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, as well as special operators shared data in real time in ways the services cannot currently do in an operational environment. What will ABMS eventually look like? That's still a mystery, even to the Air Force, which wants to test different solutions for connecting platforms, crunching data and sending it to other assets with the goal of eventually fielding what works and abandoning what doesn't. “We gave the team the goals of: Pull what you can together in three and a half months to see how far we can stretch, how quickly we could achieve something,” said Air Force chief architect Preston Dunlap, who manages the ABMS effort. “We were quite happy actually, even with 10 percent solutions.” Here's a rundown of some notable successes so far, as well as major failures: The F-35 and F-22 were able to stealthily exchange data. Despite the two jets having advanced “sensor fusion” capabilities, the Air Force's two most advanced fighters can't really talk to each other. The F-35 uses the Multifunction Advanced Data Link, or MADL, to securely share sensitive information with other F-35s, while the F-22 has its own data link, the Intra-Flight Data Link, or IFDL. Even using a non-stealthy connection to share information has its limitations: While the F-35 can both transmit and receive data via the Link 16, which meets NATO standards, the F-22 currently can only receive data. However, the first ABMS test showed hopeful signs for fifth-generation fighter communication. The demonstration involved radio systems — built by F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin as well as Northrop Grumman, which manufactures key structures and mission systems for the aircraft, including MADL, Dunlap said. The demo also included Honeywell-made antennas built to speak across both MADL and IFDL, he added. Those systems were integrated onto a ground based rig that “look[ed] like a big piece of hardware with radios on it,” according to Roper. Then, the F-35 and F-22 flew over the system, exchanging data by bouncing it back-and-forth from the ground-based radios, Dunlap said. He noted that the test verified that existing technology can be used to overcome three obstacles: translating the F-35's MADL to the F-22's IFDL; moving data across the different frequencies; and securing the communication. "It was really herculean,” Dunlap said. "[The contractors] were excited by the speed of the acquisition team to get the ball going." During the next ABMS demo in April, the Air Force plans to stretch the capability by putting the translation system inside the unmanned Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie for flight-based testing. “I also challenged the team to expand the amount of information translated between the different platforms so they can take advantage of new information on the displays,” Dunlap said. An AC-130 gunship connected with SpaceX's Starlink constellation. Although Dunlap did not provide much detail on this element of the exercise, he confirmed that the AC-130 was able to pass data through the constellation of small, high-bandwidth commercial internet satellites. The Air Force has shown interest in connecting its platforms to commercial broadband satellites through its Global Lightning experiment. A demonstration with Starlink and the KC-135 tanker aircraft is in the works, and the service also plans to evaluate equipment from Iridium, OneWeb and L3Harris. The Air Force created a cloud-based application for command and control. Typically, the service performs command and control from air operations centers — physical buildings where analysts sit in front of computers with specialized software that provides data from multiple assets, Dunlap said. Changes to software don't necessarily happen automatically, and they may require assistance from information technology experts. In the ABMS exercise, the Air Force demonstrated a cloud-based battle management and situational awareness application for the first time. It used a “CloudOne” system to host data up to the secret level, which will be a formative system underlying ABMS, Dunlap said. Both Amazon and Microsoft are involved in standing up the CloudOne technology, but Roper said the Air Force could use the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract vehicle for CloudOne if JEDI winner Microsoft provides better rates. The robot dogs were a swing and a miss. U.S. Special Operations Command brought the robots that are capable of augmenting surveillance operations to the ABMS field test, but operators couldn't figure out how to connect them with the other platforms involved in the exercise. “We had some robot dogs — apparently those exist — that can go and do patrol. We were never able to patch their feeds in,” Roper said. There's hope for cybernetic canines becoming part of ABMS in the future though. Roper added that the ABMS team would be welcome to try to integrate the robots in future exercises. https://www.c4isrnet.com/air/2020/01/22/the-us-air-force-tested-its-advanced-battle-management-system-heres-what-worked-and-what-didnt/

SAGUENAY – La plupart des PME croient que le marché de la défense et des équipements militaires est complexe et inaccessible. En réalité, ce n'est pas le cas. C'est ce qu'ont expliqué Rock Lemay et Patrick Sirois de la firme Triodeaux quelque 40 entrepreneurs de la région lors d'un déjeuner-conférence organisé par la Société de la Vallée de l'Aluminium(SVA), ce matin, au Manoir du Saguenay. « Il est important pour les PME de comprendre que les contrats ne concernent pas les armements et les avions, par exemple. Il y a plein de petites et grandes entreprises qui ont découvert le marché militaire. Ce marché de la défense et des équipements militaires qui avait été délaissé pendant plusieurs années au Canada, connaît une recrudescence dans les investissements afin de renouveler les équipements nécessaires aux soldats. Il ne s'agit pas seulement des produits de haute technologie, mais également de produits et de l'équipement communs tels que les bateaux, les camions, les plateformes, les uniformes et bien d'autres. Par exemple, l'entreprise d'autobus Prévost a une division militaire. L'armée a acheté 1 500 camions en France et Prévost doit les habiller avec des équipements adaptés. C'est là que les sous-traitants rentrent en ligne de compte et peut fournir des équipements comme des coffres, échelle, pièces de métal, plateforme, etc. », explique Patrick Sirois, président de Triode. Forte croissance Au cours des 10 prochaines années, les besoins du marché de la défense connaîtront une forte croissance. Les budgets pour le renouvellement des équipements sont déjà votés et alloués et les différents départements de l'armée s'affairent à déterminer leurs besoins avant d'aller en appel d'offres. « Autre facteur intéressant, Développement économique Canada (DEC) a mis en place au cours des dernières années une politique de retombées industrielles et technologiques qui favorisent les PME et les régions. En gros, cette politique assure que même si le contrat est octroyé à des entreprises étrangères, celles-ci n'auront d'autre choix que de travailler avec des fournisseurs ou des partenaires locaux pour faire de la recherche ou de l'assemblage de produits. » En fait, les prochaines années promettent d'être très intéressantes dans ce marché. Nul besoin d'être impliqué dans des projets d'armement. « Il y a beaucoup d'équipements pour lesquels la défense canadienne cherchera des fournisseurs, tels que des remorques, des ponts, des ponceaux, des équipements logistiques, des conteneurs ainsi que l'ensemble de l'équipement nécessaire à installer et soutenir des campements temporaires. Tous ces projets représentent de belles opportunités pour les entreprises de la région », affirment M. Sirois et son collègue Rock Lemay en précisant que le marché de la défense et des équipements militaires est de plus en plus accessible pour les PME qui savent se préparer et qui ont un minimum de processus déployés dans leur organisation. Enfin, soulignons que ce déjeuner-conférence servait à démystifier le processus et de permettre aux PME qui le désirent d'êtres accompagnées tout au long de la démarche par la SVA et son créneau d'excellence. (Texte en collaboration avec Guy Bouchard) https://informeaffaires.com/regional/manufacturier-et-fournisseur/le-marche-militaire-a-la-portee-des-pme-regionales

By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — Rotary pilot and rear crew training capabilities for the British military have been given a lift with an order for additional Airbus helicopters in part of a wider boost to a package of improvements announced Jan. 21 by the Ministry of Defence. The £183 million (U.S. $238 million) deal will see Airbus supply four of its H145 helicopters to the rotary wing element of the U.K. Military Flying Training System program. UKMFTS is run by the Babcock-Lockheed Martin joint venture Ascent Flight Training Management in partnership with the MoD. Aside from the H145 helos, known in Britain as Jupiters, the MoD has funded the acquisition of another simulator, made by Canadian vendor CAE, and infrastructure improvements at Royal Air Force Shawbury, the headquarters of Britain's tri-service helicopter training effort. “The new H145 helicopters and simulator will enable students to learn how to fly a range of missions, covering expected scenarios on operational deployment. In addition, the H145s enable students to practice winching tasks and rear crew activities,” the MoD said in a statement announcing the deal. “It is part of a wider program to increase training capacity for UK military pilots overall, as part of the £3.2 billion UKMFTS program and helps address the increased demand for pilot training identified in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review,” the statement added. The helicopter element of MFTS currently operates 29 Airbus H135s for basic training, and three H145s for more advanced pilot training and particularly for rear crew work like winching. The H135 is known in Britain as the Juno. All four aircraft are expected to be delivered to the MFTS program by the end of this year. The more than doubling of the H145 fleet reflects the increasing number of rotary rear crew and pilots required by the British military. Crew shortages in fixed- and rotary-wing sectors have caused concern at the MoD, with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace saying late last year that fixing the problem is a top priority. To help meet demand, additional fixed-wing aircraft may also be added to a fleet that already includes T-6 Texans, Phenon multi-engine trainers and King Air rear crew trainers. https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2020/01/21/britain-orders-airbus-h145-helos-amid-scramble-to-fix-pilot-shortage/

By: Nathan Strout The Air Force awarded Raytheon a $442 million contract Jan. 16 to develop new technology that will allow the B-52 and RC-130 aircraft to utilize the nation's advanced anti-jamming communications satellites. The contract is part of the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) program, an effort to replace legacy communication terminals with secure, nuclear-survivable terminals capable of utilizing the nation's most secure communications satellites for protected communications — including Presidential and National Voice Conferencing — and nuclear command and control. In 2015, the Department of Defense divided the FAB-T program into two segments: the Command Post Terminals (CPT) subprogram, which will provide terminals for ground posts and E-4 and E6 aircraft, and the Force Element Terminal (FET) subprogram, which will place new terminals in B-52 and RC-135 aircraft. The $442,265,464 cost-plus-incentive-fee undefinitized contract will provide for the latter, with Raytheon designing, developing, testing, integrating and providing logistical support for force element terminals for the two aircraft. Once in place, the terminals will allow airmen within those aircraft to utilize a trio of highly advanced satellites: the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites, the Enhanced Polar System satellites, and the legacy Milstar satellites. The FAB-T terminals will also allow command and control of those three constellations. According to the Government Accountability Office, the force element terminals are essential to the FAB-T program — without them, the program “cannot achieve its planned capabilities that are based on the interaction of bomber aircraft with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft and CPTs.” The GAO also reports that due to delays in the FAB-T program, all six AEHF satellites are expected to be on orbit before the system is in place, resulting in an underutilization of costly satellite capabilities. The same day, The FAB-T contracting office award Raytheon a $36,848,806 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to develop a software encryption platform for the system approved by the National Security Administration. Work is expected to be completed by March 2023. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center also issued a Request for Information Jan. 15 seeking industry sources that can support the installation of the FAB-T Command Post Terminals worldwide. According to a May 2019 Government Accountability Office report, the CPT subprogram is expected to reach initial operating capability in June 2021 and full operational capability by March 2023. Raytheon is also the primary contractor for the CPT subprogram. Responses to that RFI are due Jan. 22. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2020/01/21/with-this-upgrade-these-aircraft-will-have-anti-jamming-comms/

By: Susanna V. Blume and Molly Parrish It's no secret that the military services fight hard to protect their shares of the defense budget. Just last week, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday made his case for a greater share of the defense budget. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy quickly answered, making the same claim on behalf of his service. What if the Department of Defense were able to use these rivalries as a force for good? The secretary of defense should pit the services against each other in a healthy competition for solutions to real operational challenges. The reward? More funding in their budgets to implement the best solutions. It is by now old news that the 2018 National Defense Strategy solidified a shift in priorities from long-term counterinsurgency and stabilization operations in the Middle East to strategic competition with China and Russia. This shift represents a significant change in what the country will require of the joint force in the future. As a result, to fully embrace this shift in priorities, it follows that the services must accept additional risk in some areas in order to invest in the capabilities required to sustain U.S. military advantage over aspiring great powers. In other words, in order to implement the NDS, the DoD must shift resources. But shifting resource around with the defense budget is really hard. For the most part, defense budgets are built from the bottom up, with each program having strong institutional champions, regardless of how relevant that program is to the current strategy. In this environment, it's difficult to take money away from something to give it to something else. The result is budgets that largely reflect the status quo. While the DoD should of course avoid capricious and destabilizing swings in funding for defense programs, there are times when deliberate, strategy-driven shifts in resources are necessary. To make it a little easier to move money around the DoD in these cases, we recommend in our latest report that the secretary of defense harness interservice rivalry as a force for good. The secretary should give the services specific operational challenges to solve at the outset of the budget cycle, and reward the service or services with the best solutions at the end of the cycle with the funds to implement them. The DoD competition would start at the beginning of the budget cycle, with the operational challenge given alongside the usual strategic, planning and fiscal guidance. Over the course of the budget cycle, the services would each work to come up with solutions to the operational challenges posed by the secretary. During program review, the services would present their solutions to defense leadership. The service or services with the best solution to the secretary's challenges would then receive the funds to implement them. To fund this competition, the secretary would have to hold back some resources at the start of the process, effectively giving less to each of the services to begin with. This decision will be extremely unpopular with the services, but it will also ensure that the secretary has easily accessible funding available to him or her at the end of program review with which to ensure that the services are implementing his or her top priorities. The idea of spurring innovation through competition is not new. The DoD already uses competitions to drive innovative solutions to a wide variety of technical challenges. Take the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Launch Challenge, which aims to improve resiliency in space by tasking participants to “launch payloads to orbit on extremely short notice.” DARPA will give the team who is able to complete both launches a prize of $10 million to continue their work. In addition, this past September, the DoD's Joint Artificial intelligence Center, along with the National Security Innovation Network, hosted a Hackathon at the University of Michigan. Participants came from both academia and the commercial industry to find artificial intelligence-enabled solutions. The hackers were given a specific problem and then tasked with finding a solution. The winners of the Hackathon are rewarded with — surprise — money! The services like money just as much as the average citizen, and the Department of Defense needs to take this concept and use these persistent and unavoidable interservice rivalries as a force for good. A healthy competition between the services, incentivized by funding, could be the next step toward implementing and addressing the challenges inherent in implementing the National Defense Strategy. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/01/21/interservice-rivalries-a-force-for-good/