Nouvelles

Steve Trimble As the first B-21 enters final assembly in Palmdale, California, the Northrop Grumman-led program is on track to hit a first-flight target in two years, although the first signs of schedule pressure have appeared. Most of the details of the U.S. Air Force's newest stealth bomber remain a tightly guarded secret, but those facts released show the program is following a conventional trajectory despite being managed by an organization with the word “rapid” in its title. The Air Force announced completion of the critical design review in December 2018 in the standard three years after Northrop Grumman won the engineering and manufacturing development contract. The target for the first flight milestone stayed secret until July , when Gen. Stephen Wilson, the Air Force's vice chief of staff, stated publicly—and with remarkable specificity—that the milestone was 863 days away. Wilson offered that timetable on July 25, suggesting the targeted date is around Dec. 3, 2021. SCO leader says earliest flight would be in December 2021 Public rollout event expected in Palmdale, California The final piece of the publicly acknowledged schedule is that the first B-21 entered the early stages of final assembly around September in Palmdale, presumably within Northrop's Site 4 manufacturing complex and perhaps inside Building 401 in the same assembly bay that once housed the B-2. To hit Wilson's first-flight target, Northrop's staff must complete assembly of the first aircraft, stage a public rollout event and perform necessary ground testing within about two years. But Wilson's first-flight target may already be under pressure. His description made the December 2021 date seem like a fixed schedule milestone typical of most major defense acquisition programs. Randall Walden, who leads the Rapid Capabilities Office assigned to lead the B-21 program, describes Wilson's timing as closer to a schedule goal than a deadline. Walden recast the target as the “earliest possible” date for first flight, which he has little confidence the program will achieve. “I would not bet on that date,” Walden told an audience at a Capitol Hill Club breakfast on Oct. 24 organized by the Air Force Association. The comment is a rare cautionary note among otherwise glowing descriptions of the B-21 program by officials cleared to know the status of the development program. In March 2018, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) reported concerns about the design of the engine inlet, citing an internal dispute between Northrop and engine supplier Pratt & Whitney's engineers. Twelve months later, Wittman confirmed that the inlet design problem had been resolved. The program has since received only glowing assessments by Air Force leaders, including a statement in October by Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein that the B-21 ranks at the top of his list of successful acquisition projects. Despite those assurances, transitioning a new aircraft from a paper design into manufactured hardware is a challenging phase for any program. Large pieces of the first aircraft are now in assembly. “We're working a production line, literally, today,” Walden says. An official artist's rendering shows the B-21 shares the all-wing profile of the B-2, minus the latter's distinctive sawtooth trailing edge. The Air Force's acquisition strategy also focused on minimizing risk by relying as much as possible on available technology. But a modern bomber with the B-21's mission to penetrate into highly contested airspace is still anything but a simple project. “It is a complex airplane. I'll leave it at that,” Walden says. Walden expects the Air Force to stage a public rollout event in Palmdale when the aircraft is ready. For the B-2, the rollout was staged seven months before the first flight. If the B-21 stays to the same schedule, the unveiling could come as early as May 2020. But Walden adds that includes several big “ifs.” “Like anything, building a complex system could add those schedule pressures,” Walden says. “We've got to bring parts together, got to assemble it and get it stuffed with the right avionics, get the landing gear on it, all the things that go along with an airplane.” Any schedule pressure facing the B-21 would not surprise Frank Kendall, the former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Kendall led the shaping of the acquisition strategy for the B-21. In a recent interview, he recalled pushing back against attempts by the Air Force to award a firm, fixed-price contract instead of a more flexible cost-plus arrangement, which is generally applied to acquisition projects with a higher risk. “When I looked at . . . the actual content of the program, I [was] so glad I told [the Air Force to use cost-plus],” Kendall says. “It's not risk-free. I'll be amazed if they get this thing in on schedule and on cost. But it was designed to have a reasonable chance of success.” An independent estimate by the Defense Department assessed the cost of the engineering and manufacturing development phase at $21.4 billion, with follow-on production of at least 80-100 bombers worth up to $60 billion more. The Air Force has budgeted $5.9 billion over the next five years to pay for the first operational aircraft, with low-rate initial production possibly beginning in fiscal 2023. “There are a lot of things that have to happen between now and a couple of years,” Walden says. https://aviationweek.com/defense/b-21-program-hits-schedule-pressure-even-conventional-trajectory

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, California, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $379,377,099 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for maintenance, repair and consumable material support for the V-22 platform. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Locations of performance are Maryland, Texas and Pennsylvania, with a Nov. 20, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are 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 Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE4AX-20-D-9401). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $232,003,560 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-20-D-000U) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-14-D-002U) for the AH64 CH47 Global Material Support Program. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year base contract with one four-year option period. Locations of performance are Missouri and Arizona, with a Nov. 18, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MOOG Inc., East Aurora, New York, has been awarded a maximum $13,658,400 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for aviation pneumatic accumulators. This was a limited competitive acquisition with two offers received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is New York, with a Nov. 1, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-20-D-0007). NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $92,205,970 firm-fixed-price modification (P00008) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract (N68335-18-C-0681). This modification exercises an option to procure 34 electronic Consolidated Automated Support System (eCASS) units to include 32 for the Navy and two for the government of Kuwait. Additionally, this modification procures eCASS related equipment such as self-maintenance and test/calibration operational test program sets, calibration equipment suites/kits, rack rail kits, shore installation kits and ship installation kits in support of the Navy and the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed in December 2022. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy); and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $92,205,970 will be obligated at time of award, $641,592 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded an $84,769,892 fixed-price-incentive (firm target) and firm-fixed-price contract modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-5418 to exercise options in support of the fiscal 2020 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 low rate initial production (LRIP) requirements. This contract modification will procure the remaining materials in support of the ESSM FY20 LRIP Lot 3 all up rounds and spares requirements. The ESSM program is an international cooperative effort to design, develop, test and procure ESSM missiles. The ESSM provides enhanced ship defense. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (50%); Richmond, Australia (6%); Raufoss, Norway (6%); Andover, Massachusetts (5%); Mississauga, Canada (4%); Ottobrunn, Germany (3%); Hengelo Ov, Netherlands (3%); Grand Rapids, Michigan (3%); San Jose, California (2%); Ottawa, Canada (2%); Aranjuez, Spain (2%); San Diego, California (2%); Koropi Attica, Greece (2%); Hopewell Junction, New York (1%); Ankara, Turkey (1%); Westlake Village, California (1%); Eight Mile Plains Brisbane, Australia (1%); Grenaa, Denmark (1%); Torrance, California (1%); Canton, New York (1%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (1%); Newmarket, Canada; Lystrup, Denmark; Milwaukie, Oregon; and Cincinnati, Ohio, are less than 1% each and make up the remaining 2%. Work is expected to be complete by June 2023. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $84,769,892 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract modification was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(4). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc., Houston, Texas, is awarded a $56,255,635 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to exercise the second option period for base operating support services at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. The work to be performed provides for all management and administration, public safety, galley, ordnance, air operations, fire and emergency services, bachelor quarters, housing, pest control, integrated solid waste, base support vehicles and equipment, custodial, electrical, water, wastewater, port operations, supply, morale-welfare-recreation, facilities investment and environmental services to provide base operating support services. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $188,808,738. Work will be performed at various installations in the territory of Djibouti, Africa, and other areas within Africa, and work is expected to be completed November 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance, (Navy), contract funds in the amount of $56,255,635 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Europe Africa Central, Naples, Italy, is the contracting activity (N62470-17-D-4012). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $54,597,891 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-6259 to exercise and fund options for Navy equipment, production support and required long lead materials. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (65%); Clearwater, Florida (32%); Syracuse, New York (2%); and Marion, Florida (1%), and is expected to be complete by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy); and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $46,832,561 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. SeaFix Inc., Saipan, Marianas Protectorate, is awarded a not-to-exceed $15,214,417 firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursement, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a four-year ordering period for Navy Watercraft Afloat Maintenance Services. This contract provides for full range of logistics support services to include maintenance and associated material management for Afloat Navy Lighterage in support of the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program and deployed forces world-wide. This contract includes one six-month option period which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $18,930,294. Work will be performed outside the continental U.S. aboard Military Sealift Command Ships (98%), primarily in Guam, Saipan, Diego Garcia and South Korea; and in Jacksonville, Florida (2%). Work is expected to be completed Jan. 14, 2024. If all options are exercised, work will continue through July 14, 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively solicited and procured via the Federal Business Opportunity website as a total HUBZone set-aside, with two offers received. The Marine Corps, Blount Island Command, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (M67004-20-D-0002). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $13,046,971 modification for the firm-fixed-price portion of a previously awarded contract (M67854-19-C-0043). This modification is for the purchase of gallium nitride full rate production diminishing manufacturing sources and communications equipment group shelter integration in Lot One in support of Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Quantico, Virginia. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland, and is expected to be complete by May 2, 2022. Fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $13,046,971 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract modification was not competitively procured. The base contract was prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 and 10 U.S. Code § 2304(c)(1). The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-19-C-0043). BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Florida, is awarded an $11,161,336 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-2302 to exercise options for the USS Billings (LCS 15) post-shakedown availability. Post-shakedown availabilities (PSA) are accomplished within a period of approximately 10-16 weeks between the time of ship custody transfer to the Navy and the shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding obligation work limiting date. The PSA encompasses all of the manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the PSA. The work to be performed will include correction of government-responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period which are not otherwise the building yard's responsibility under the ship construction contract. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida, and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2013 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,431,018; fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,431,015; and fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $202,227 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Bath, Maine, is the contracting activity. Melwood Horticultural Training Center Inc., Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is awarded an $8,639,459 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) modification for the exercise of Option Four under an IDIQ contract for custodial services at U.S. Naval Academy complex. The work to be performed provides for custodial services such as trash removal, cleaning, vacuuming, floor cleaning and scrubbing, re-lamping, specialized cleaning of the John Paul Jones Crypt, and basketball floor installation and removal. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $41,707,319. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland. This option period is from December 2019 to November 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $8,639,459 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Public Works Department, Annapolis, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N40080-16-D-0303). ARMY SAF Inc.,* Akron, Ohio (W91237-20-D-0001); and A&H - AMBICA JV LLC,* Livonia, Michigan (W91237-20-D-0002), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for an indefinite-delivery contract for design-build and design-bid-build construction projects. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 18, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington, West Virginia, is the contracting activity. SIG Sauer Inc., Newington, New Hampshire, was awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of .300 Winchester Magnum Ammunition. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-D-0003). CSRA,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $9,178,300 modification (0029 42) to contract W31P4Q-05-A-0028 for non-standard rotary wing aircraft project office systems engineering and technical assistance support services. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 19, 2020. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $9,178,300 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE CORRECTION: The Nov. 13, 2019, announcement of a $32,266,994 modification to ManTech International Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, exercising Option Year One to previously awarded contract FA8819-18-C-1001 for security support, included the wrong modification number. The correct modification number is P00018. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2021006/source/GovDelivery/

by Bill Brown From Sept. 9 to 20, 2019, personnel from Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Aurora CP-140 fleet participated Exercise Coalition Virtual Flag (CVF) 19-4, which is led by the United States Air Force (USAF). More than 450 joint and coalition warfighters, located at 23 sites and on three different continents, participated. Canadian participants used the Aurora procedure crew trainer (PCT) mission simulator located in 404 Long Range Patrol and Training Squadron's Thorney Island Simulation Centre at 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S., to participate in the virtual exercise. Using distributed mission training (DMT) architecture, the PCT was connected to dozens of combat missions and flight simulators throughout Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The exercise was hosted by the 705th Combat Training Squadron (CTS) at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. “Coalition Virtual Flag is an opportunity for our coalition and joint partners to get together. It's a theatre-level exercise that we can practice our tactics, techniques and procedures,” explained the United States Air Force's LCol Angela Messing, commander of 705th CTS. “It takes place in the virtual and simulated world with environment generators that replicate the exact threats that we're facing.” Canadian planning for the annual complex, joint warfare simulation started almost a year ago, with 404 Squadron's modeling and simulation experts working closely with the Royal Canadian Navy's Distributed Mission Operations Centre, the RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre's modelling and simulation co-ordination team, and modelling and simulation planners Distributed Mission Operations Center at Kirtland Air Force Base. 404 Squadron and 405 Long Range Patrol Squadron provided two crews to complete the five missions. Crew planning took place over several days, and included preparing for authentic anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare tasks. The Aurora crews faced a multi-threat, open conflict simulation scenario, and worked alongside allies from the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Air Force. Exercise Coalition Virtual Flag represents the highest level of training that can be achieved through simulation. The crews must fight together or fail together. Miscommunication on and off their own aircraft can have deadly results, with friendly units engaged by opposing force weapons systems. The Aurora is a very capable surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and, using its advanced sensors, has abundant tactical information to share with supported fighting forces. Adding to the opportunity of exercising in a coalition DMT environment, crews conducted tactics development and confirmation for two tactical electronic warfare instructor course mentors. With the centre of excellence residing in 404 Squadron's Simulation Flight, the CP-140 fleet will continue to advance its simulation training capabilities. Several small-scale monthly DMT exercises are planned with the Navy's Distributed Mission Operations Centre and ships' combat teams over the coming months. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/rcaf-participates-in-highest-level-simulated-mission-circling-the-globe

CAE, Jazz Aviation, and Seneca have teamed up to develop Jazz Approach, an innovative Canadian program to provide Jazz with a pipeline of top-quality first officers. Cadets will receive a letter of employment from Jazz upon selection into the program, allowing for a direct path to join the airline as first officers conditional upon successful completion of the program. The parties involved have signed a five-year partnership agreement and the first cohort is set to begin training in April 2020. “CAE creates over 1,500 new pilots yearly over 30 cadet training programs globally, and we are thrilled to add a first Canadian cadet pilot training program to our list of curricula,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE's group president, Civil Aviation Training Solutions. “The demand for pilots has never been so high. With over 300,000 pilots needed globally over the next decade, CAE is working closely with airlines around the world to come up with pilot creation solutions. This program is a one-of-a-kind program, and a great example of how the Canadian aviation industry is working closely together to come up with innovative solutions to face that challenge. We thank Jazz for its trust, we are honored to help expand upon its pipeline of future pilots and we look forward to training them alongside Seneca.” Jazz Aviation's pilots have been training in CAE's network in Canada since 2003. Now, under this new agreement, with its partner Seneca, CAE will be assisting Jazz in the selection, training and certification of new pilots. “We are very excited to partner with two exceptional Canadian organizations, CAE and Seneca, to introduce the Jazz Approach program,” said Capt Steve Linthwaite, vice-president, Flight Operations for Jazz Aviation. “For Jazz, this innovative initiative will be an expansion of our Jazz Aviation Pathways Program (Jazz APP) and provides yet another avenue for future generations of pilots to launch their careers in aviation. The roots of the Jazz APP program go back to 2007 and the addition of Jazz Approach is an important step in growing the program to yet another level. We have worked with both CAE and Seneca for many years and we are delighted to have the opportunity to join together to introduce this program in Canada.” “We are thrilled to be partnering with CAE and Jazz Aviation through this innovative all-Canadian collaboration. The Jazz Approach program builds on the success of our partnership with Jazz Aviation and will be an excellent addition to the suite of academic and hands-on training offered within our School of Aviation,” said Lynne McMullen, director of strategic partnerships with Seneca's School of Aviation. “The Jazz Approach program is another opportunity for Seneca to be on the forefront of flight training in Canada.” About the Jazz Approach program CAE, Jazz and Seneca developed the Jazz Approach program in close collaboration, showcasing the latest competency-based training innovations. The Jazz Approach program embeds Jazz Aviation standard operating procedures (SOPs) and threat and error management strategies. Under the terms of this program, CAE will conduct recruitment, assessment and selection of the cadets according to Jazz's defined criteria. The cadets will undergo the integrated airline transport pilot license (ATPL) training over 18 months at Seneca's School of Aviation in Peterborough, Ont. Following completion, CAE will provide a CRJ200 type rating at CAE Toronto, leveraging CAE's innovative training equipment. Upon successful completion of the training program and subject to certain conditions, the first graduates will join Jazz Aviation as first officers by the end of 2021. Applications for the Jazz Approach training program will open on Dec. 1, 2019. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/cae-jazz-and-seneca-launch-first-cadet-pilot-training-program-in-canada

Le biréacteur de transport militaire, qui se pose en remplaçant du C-130 Hercules, fait l'objet d'une première joint-venture entre les deux avionneurs américains. Il est important de noter que l'annonce s'est faite pendant le salon de Dubaï sous l'égide de Boeing Embraer-Defense, co-entreprise (joint-venture) créée par les deux avionneurs pour la commercialisation de l'appareil. La JV sera possédée à 51% par le partenaire brésilien. Une deuxième JV, baptisée cette fois Boeing Brasil – Commercial et portant sur la gamme commerciale d'Embraer, doit voir le jour dans les semaines à venir et sera possédée cette fois à 80% par Boeing. Mais revenons au Millenium... En enlevant la lettre « K » et la capacité de ravitaillement en vol à son KC-390, Embraer offre désormais un appareil plus léger et moins coûteux à la clientèle miliaire, pour les missions de transport tactique. L'avion ne perd rien de sa polyvalence en matière de transport et de parachutage ni de ses capacités d'évolution sur les terrains sommaires. Le KC-390 a été certifié par les autorités brésiliennes en 2018 et le premier appareil de série a été livré à la force aérienne brésilienne le 4 septembre dernier. La livraison du deuxième, sur une commande de 28 appareils notifiée au lancement du programme, en 2010, devrait intervenir avant la fin de l'année. Le Portugal a quant à lui signé en août dernier pour cinq avions livrables à partir de 2023. https://www.aerobuzz.fr/breves-defense/embraer-et-boeing-annoncent-le-c-390-millenium/?page_b=2

By: Sebastian Sprenger BERLIN — The U.S. Air Force is taking its time to settle on a next-generation fighter design, awaiting instead lessons learned from the F-35 jet and playing the field with promising technologies, according to a senior service official. Options being kicked around are still in the conceptual stage, as America's newest fighter, the fifth-generation F-35, is only now “coming off the line,” according to Lt. Gen. David Nahom, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for plans and programs. “We're not in a hurry,” Nahom told Defense News on the sidelines of the International Fighter Conference, an air power-themed confab of industry and government officials held in Berlin, Germany. He noted that expected deliveries of the F-35 and the relatively young age of the F-22 fleet enables the service to be picky about moving forward with the envisioned Next Generation Air Dominance weapon. In short, the Air Force wants to keep its options open for as long as possible for a weapon whose combat punch will lie not in a single aircraft but rather in the amalgamation of hardware and software, an airborne concerto of data clouds, artificial intelligence, and boundless interconnectivity. “We don't want to get too stuck into a platform,” Nahom said. “It's a very different way to approach it.” Still, the service plans to lay the groundwork for boosting the domain of information and data — organizing it, analyzing it, sharing it — as a key element for future aerial warfare. To that end, officials will include a “significant investment in the digital backbone” in the next budget request, Nahom said. As the Air Force studies its options, service analysts have shied away from the term “sixth-generation” aircraft as a successor to the F-35 because it's unclear what breakthrough technology will be created next. “What are the characteristics of sixth-generation? I don't know,” Nahom said. “Stealth is important,” he added, referring to one of the advertised features of the F-35. “But speed is important, too.” The service aims to develop a new capability quickly once the theoretical legwork is done. That is why there is a renewed emphasis now on engineering processes and algorithm development that Nahom said will have to unfold much faster than under previous aircraft programs. Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper has put down a marker to develop an aircraft within five years. “Based on what industry thinks they can do and what my team will tell me, we will need to set a cadence of how fast we think we build a new airplane from scratch. Right now, my estimate is five years. I may be wrong,” he told Defense News in an interview in September. The service's information-heavy tack on future aerial warfare echoes two European projects aimed at building a next-generation weapon: the British-led Tempest and the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System. Both programs also lean on the the premise that data clouds, driven by artificial intelligence, can turn flying pieces of metal into breakthrough weaponry. In the case of the continental program, an envisioned “combat cloud” will be “the ocean between the islands of the platforms,” French Maj. Gen. Jean-Pascal Breton said at the conference. But Nahom noted a difference in the American way of thinking when it comes to piercing contested airspace — a key skill required of all future warplanes. While the Europeans seem to perceive the task as popping dispersed bubbles of ever-improving air defense systems, the U.S. view is that any airspace may be contested at any given time. That means a next-generation aircraft will be constantly engaged in the mission of punching its way through enemy defenses, like finding the holes in a never-ending series of Swiss cheese, Nahom said. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/11/18/the-us-air-force-is-in-no-hurry-to-commit-to-a-next-gen-fighter-design/

NAVY BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $104,775,349 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract will provide engineering and technical services to support production, lifetime support engineering and in-service engineering for the radio communication system/command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems aboard Navy surface combatants and at associated shore sites. The shipboard efforts are focused primarily on Coast Guard 47 Class and Destroyer, Guided Missile 51 Class AEGIS ships but will be applied to all Navy ships, to include Coast Guard ships, subsurface vessels and non-combatants in support of the Ship and Air Integration Warfare Division, Naval Air Warfare Center Webster Outlying Field. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (30%); Patuxent River, Maryland (30%); Norfolk, Virginia (25%); Mayport, Florida (7%); St. Inigoes, Maryland (5%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (3%), and is expected to be completed in April 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0004). CH2M Hill Constructors Inc., Englewood, Colorado (N62470-13-D-6019); Environmental Chemical Corp., Burlingame, California (N62470-13-D-6020); Kellogg, Brown, and Root Services Inc., Arlington, Virginia (N62470-13-D-6021); and URS Group Inc., Morrisville, North Carolina (N62470-13-D-6022), are awarded a $92,000,000 modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for global contingency construction projects. The work to be performed provides for the Navy, the Navy on behalf of the Department of Defense, and the Navy on behalf of other federal agencies when authorized, an immediate response for construction services. The construction and related engineering services would respond to natural disasters, humanitarian assistance, conflict, or projects with similar characteristics. Work will be predominately construction. The contractor, in support of the construction effort, may be required to provide initial base operating support services, which will be incidental to construction efforts. Work will be performed worldwide. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $1,058,000,000. The term of the contract is not to exceed 71 months with a completion date of May 2019. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on subsequent modifications for work on existing individual task orders. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. CACI Inc. - Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $41,514,235 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for the Automated Data Capture System (ADCS) application and support services to U.S. Navy Fleet Readiness Centers at organization and depot level activities. The ADCS application captures data and information associated with integrated maintenance concept inspection results for all Navy and Marine Corps aircraft as well as inspection and configuration management of applicable aircraft engines. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia (85%); Jacksonville, Florida (10%); North Island, California (3%); and Cherry Point, North Carolina (2%), and is expected to be completed in November 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0005). Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon (N3220520C2048), is awarded a $19,963,709 firm-fixed-price contract for a 75-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry-docking of USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9). The contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $20,217,869. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to be completed by March 16, 2020. Fiscal 2019 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $19,963,709 are obligated at the time of the award and none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and one offer was received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220520C2048). Turner Construction Co., New York, New York, is awarded a $17,500,000 modification for the negotiated changes to the firm-fixed-price construction contract for the Academic Center for Cyber Security Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $133,042,235. The work to be performed provides for all management, supervision, labor hours, training, equipment, materials, bonding, and insurance necessary for construction and commissioning of the Academic Center for Cyber Security Studies in accordance with Department of Defense unified facilities criteria. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, with a contract completion date of May 22, 2020. Fiscal 2017 military construction (Navy) in the amount of $17,500,000 will be obligated via award of modification number A00035. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-16-C-0156). Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Rockford, Illinois, is awarded a $10,075,122 modification (P00003) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-19-C-0006). This modification exercises an option to procure non-recurring engineering and equipment for system integration lab activities in support of the V-22 aircraft Constant Frequency Generator Control Unit design improvement effort for the Navy, Air Force and the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Rockford, Illinois (96%); Patuxent River, Maryland (2%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (2%), and is expected to be completed in October 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy and Air Force); and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $10,075,122 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($7,073,336; 70%); Air Force ($1,742,396; 17%); and the government of Japan ($1,259,390; 13%). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Canadian Commercial Corp., Ontario, Canada, is awarded a $9,895,077 firm-fixed-price delivery order (N0017420F0039) under previously-awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00174-19-D-0002 for the Mk 200 Mod 0 propelling charge. This delivery order combines purchases for the Navy (62%); and the government of Australia (38%) under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Quebec, Canada, and is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $3,986,575; Foreign Military Sales (Australia) funding in the amount of $3,771,900; and fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $2,136,602 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, Indian Head, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY Dyncorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $21,564,568 modification (P00259) to Foreign Military Sales (Sweden) contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for the aviation field maintenance services and operations. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden, Honduras, Egypt, Iraq and South Korea, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2010, 2019 and 2020 Foreign Military Sales, aircraft procurement and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the combined amount of $21,564,568 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Titusville, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $12,013,872 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for pharmaceutical products. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is New Jersey, with a Dec. 14, 2020, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0001). AIR FORCE iCAMR Inc., Kissimmee, Florida, has been awarded a $7,585,850 cost-type contract with no fee for research and development. The Trusted Semiconductor Manufacturing Pilot Project involves developing a Secure Digital Twin for Semiconductors manufacturing methodology by applying block-chain trust and assurance security concepts and "digital twin" manufacturing concepts to the semiconductor manufacturing process. While the focus of this project is on security aspects, the "digital twin" concept provides the framework on which the security and provenance data will be collected and analyzed. Work will be performed at Kissimmee, Florida, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 22, 2022. This award is the result of a broad agency announcement and one offer was received. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $7,585,850 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-C-1911). https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2019820/source/GovDelivery/

By Lee Harding The Liberal government announced its new cabinet on Nov. 20—the very same day the Canadian Global Affairs Institute hosted its annual event on the topic of military procurement. Given that an overhaul in that area is sorely needed, Canada can learn a lot from Australia, Ian Mack wrote in a recent report for the institute. Mack is uniquely qualified to make that assessment, having worked with both governments in their process of awarding contracts for military sea vessels. While he believes both countries had an acceptable result, his report, titled “Another Way to Buy Frigates,” suggests the Canadian approach adds work, balloons costs, and delays success. The re-elected Trudeau government should take note. The Liberals proposed significant changes to Canada's defence procurement system during the election campaign, but it will be a tall order to change this process. The land down under is isolated in a less secure part of the globe, without a nearby superpower like the United States to watch its back. So if Australia is far more diligent about defence than Canada, it might be due to necessity. The last time Canada had a proper and comprehensive white paper on defence was 1994. Australia has had three in the 21st century. Australia's effectiveness goes from the top down, something Canada knows nothing of. As Mack explains, “Canada, uniquely among its allies, has multiple government departments and central agencies significantly involved in the minutiae of its major military procurement projects.” These include Defence; Treasury Board; Finance; Public Services and Procurement; Justice; Innovation, Science and Economic Development—and even more. Meanwhile in Australia, the minister of defence is responsible for all aspects of navy shipbuilding. This includes setting operational and technical requirements, securing funds, developing a plan to benefit domestic industries, and satisfying the legal aspects of procurement. Each country had a project management office of roughly the same size, but Canada's was, frankly, less competent. Australia's office had many knowledgeable contractors working alongside the Department of Defence, whereas Canada's team had many from the public service and armed forces with “little or no applicable experience or knowledge,” according to Mack. “In Canada, significant effort was expended on regular reporting to layers of senior governance,” he says in the report. But it was paperwork and process for its own sake, and impractical in its effect. “Despite the onerous reporting demands, only a few key decisions were rendered and rarely in a timely manner. The opposite was the case in Australia.” In seemingly every aspect of development, Canada made things rigid, complicated, and fragmented, while Australia made them flexible, cohesive, and collaborative. Canada made stand-alone contracts for each sequence of the process. Australia worked with contractors to establish “end-to-end accountability.” Canada's initial request for proposal included hundreds of technical requirements that bidders had to prove. Australia had few mandatory requirements, but worked alongside bidders to explore their respective proposed solutions. In Canada, the intellectual property, liabilities, and insurance requirements were debated at length and only decided hours before the request for proposal was made. Hundreds of criteria got a numerical score, and the sum of all scores won the bid. Canada was “preoccupied” about a public appearance of fairness and avoiding lawsuits. (Nevertheless, the controversy over former Vice-Admiral Mark Norman and complaints from Irving Shipbuilding over the bid for a navy supply vessel shows it failed at this.) Shipbuilders bidding in Australia were confident of a fair system without any of those things. The department did not announce its evaluation criteria, nor was the evaluation report the only factor. Instead, the department stated its objectives and worked collaboratively with three potential bidders in their respective approaches. In Mack's words, this left “the competition to be more about assessing apples, oranges, and bananas” than about tallying up numerical scores. Mack says he could not make the Canadian system work like Australia's because the procurement, request for proposals, and resulting contracts were done outside of the Department of National Defence. At the time, he was “simply unaware of the intricacies of the Australian approach” because he hadn't yet been exposed to it. Regardless, he had already surmised that Canadian bureaucrats “did not want changes to their tried and true ways of doing business” and clung to “adherence to prescriptive and traditional methodologies.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/military-procurement-what-the-new-cabinet-can-learn-from-australia_3150065.html

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN U.S. aerospace giant Boeing is pitching its guarantee of billions of dollars of work for Canadian companies as well as keeping aircraft maintenance in country as it tries to convince the Liberal government to select a new version of the Super Hornet fighter jet. Boeing is hoping that new technology on the Super Hornet and its commitment to place as much as $30 billion of work with Canadian firms will result in it winning the competition to build 88 jets. The move comes as the NDP and aerospace unions are becoming more vocal about the need for Canada's fighter jet replacement project to pay major dividends for the economy. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said last week he would be pushing that issue when Parliament returns and he hopes to have a discussion with the Liberal's new defence minister about how Canadian jobs can be created and sustained by the program. Boeing had been non-committal to the Canadian program as it reviewed the bidding requirements throughout the summer. But that changed last week when Boeing confirmed it was in the race. “We wouldn't be having this conversation if we didn't think we had a very realistic chance of winning,” Boeing executive Jim Barnes said in an interview with this newspaper. Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter is considered the top contender in the project that will see the purchase of new jets at a cost of between $15 billion and $19 billion. Saab of Sweden is also in the competition, offering the Gripen fighter jet. The issue of guaranteed economic benefits for Canada could be a problem for the Liberal government, which under pressure from the U.S., changed the procurement rules to allow the F-35 to be considered. Because of the way the U.S.-led F-35 program is structured, Lockheed Martin cannot provide guarantees of any work for Canadian firms, a stance that in the past would have disqualified a company from bidding on a major defence acquisition. In early September, the union representing machinists in the aerospace industry warned that the changes made for Lockheed Martin would come at the expense of other firms offering guaranteed work for Canada's aerospace sector. In addition, the union is worried that if Canada were to purchase the F-35 then most of the key maintenance would be done in the U.S., putting in jeopardy 600 jobs at L-3 in Mirabel, Que. L-3 conducts maintenance on the Royal Canadian Air Force's current CF-18 fighter fleet. Barnes said Boeing was surprised about the change in the Canadian competition that lifted the need for guarantees on providing domestic firms with work equal to, or more than, the cost of the project. Boeing has L-3 on its fighter jet team as well as Peraton Canada Corp., CAE Inc., GE Canada and Raytheon Canada. Barnes said over the years the Canadian government has built up a capability to maintain its fighter jets at home by using those companies. “So we are leveraging that investment by the government of Canada,” he added. Boeing officials say they are confident in guaranteeing billions of dollars of work for Canadians as the company has an extensive presence in both military and commercial aerospace around the world as well as its own facilities in Canada. Lockheed Martin has countered that while there are no guarantees of work on the F-35 program, Canadian firms have picked up more than $1.3 billion in contracts on the project over the last 12 years. The amount of those contracts could significantly increase as more F-35s are delivered to the U.S. and Canada's allies, Lockheed Martin officials have noted. Boeing is offering what is known as the Block 111 Super Hornet, an advanced version of the existing aircraft. Earlier this year the U.S. Navy confirmed it is purchasing 78 of the aircraft which are equipped with a new computer, sensors and data links to boost the amount of information that can be received or transmitted. The aircraft also has satellite communications, which is important for Arctic operations, Boeing noted. Some stealth aspects have also been added and Boeing says it has been able to increase the life of the aircraft from 6,000 flight hours to 10,000 flight hours. It is also pitching the new Super Hornet as less costly to maintain. The aircraft costs about $18,000 U.S. an hour to operate compared to the F-35 which costs $44,000 U.S. The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are working on reducing that F-35 cost. Bids for the Canadian program must be submitted by the spring of 2020, and the winner is expected to be determined by early 2022. The first aircraft would be delivered by 2025. Technical merit will make up the bulk of the assessment at 60 per cent. Cost and economic benefits companies can provide to Canada will each be worth 20 per cent. A trade dispute between Canada and Boeing over duties on Canadian-made civilian passenger jets prompted the Liberals to include in the fighter jet competition a clause that would consider any economic harm a company has done to Canada. Barnes said that clause is in the bidding documents. Boeing, however, does not see that as a problem for the company as it ultimately lost the trade dispute. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/boeing-pitches-guarantee-of-billions-of-dollars-of-work-for-canadian-firms-if-its-super-hornet-is-picked-by-canada