Nouvelles

Dates de fermeture prolongées En raison de l'apparition du coronavirus (COVID-19), nous avons prolongé les dates de fermeture des défis suivants. AI Software for Photonics Semiconductor Fabrication New closing date: April 2, 2020 Logiciel d'intelligence artificielle pour la fabrication de semi-conducteurs photoniques Nouvelle date de fermeture 2 avril, 2020 Nanocomposite Fabrics Production System New closing date: April 7, 2020 Système pour la fabrication de toiles de nanocomposites Nouvelle date de fermeture 7 avril, 2020 Secure and confidential rule matching New closing date: April 16, 2020 Correspondance de règles sécurisée et confidentielle Nouvelle date de fermeture 16 avril, 2020 Low-cost sensor system for patient monitoring New closing date: April 2, 2020 Système de capteurs peu coûteux pour surveiller l'état des patients Nouvelle date de fermeture 2 avril, 2020 Surveying objects across an air-water interface New closing date: April 7, 2020 Topométrie d'objets sur une interface air-eau Nouvelle date de fermeture 7 avril, 2020

Haifa, Israel, March 15, 2020 – Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT, TASE: ESLT) (“Elbit Systems” or “the Company”) announced today further to the Company's announcement dated March 27, 2019, that its U.S. subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America, LLC, was awarded a $200 million contract as part of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) automatic self-propelled howitzer gun systems program. The contract will be performed over a 12-year period. About Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs throughout the world. The Company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land, and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (“C4ISR”), unmanned aircraft systems, advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links, communications systems, radios, cyber-based systems and munitions. The Company also focuses on the upgrading of existing platforms, developing new technologies for defense, homeland security and commercial applications and providing a range of support services, including training and simulation systems. For additional information, visit: https://elbitsystems.com/ , follow us on Twitter or visit our official Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn Channels. Contacts: Company Contact: Joseph Gaspar, Executive VP & CFO Tel: +972-4-8316663 j.gaspar@elbitsystems.com Rami Myerson, Director, Investor Relations Tel: +972-77-2946403 rami.myerson@elbitsystems.com David Vaaknin, VP, Brand & Communications Tel: +972-77-2946691 david.vaaknin@elbitsystems.com IR Contact: Ehud Helft Gavriel Frohwein GK Investor Relations Tel: 1-646-688-3559 elbitsystems@gkir.com View source version on Elbit Systems Ltd: https://elbitsystems.com/pr-new/elbit-systems-u-s-subsidiary-awarded-200-million-contract-to-provide-artillery-systems/

Wichita, Kan. March 16, 2020 – Textron Aviation Defense LLC, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced the finalization of a $70.2 million Other Transaction Authority (OTA) with the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to equip the U.S. Air Force with two Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine aircraft, pilot training, engineering services and up to four years of contractor support for maintenance and spares. The work in support of this OTA, which includes activities in support of military type certification, will take place in Wichita, Kansas. “Textron Aviation Defense is proud to equip the U.S. Air Force with the multi-role Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine,” said Brett Pierson, vice president of Defense Strategy and Sales. “The AT-6 is a vital element of the National Defense Strategy to build ally and partner capacity, capability and interoperability — and does so at a fraction of the cost of other combat aircraft. We're eager to deliver the aircraft to the Air Force in support of Air Combat Command's (ACC) development of operational tactics and standards for exportable, tactical networks that improve interoperability with international partners.” This acquisition enables the U.S. Air Force to leverage a commercial off-the-shelf, non-developmental integrated weapons system to equip a multi-national coalition with a common system that meets a wide array of training and operational requirements. An affordable solution, the AT-6 cost per flying hour is less than $1,000 and its small maintenance footprint — as demonstrated during both phases of the Light Attack experiment — underscore the aircraft's cost-effectiveness, deployability and sustainability. “Our focus is on how a light attack aircraft can help our allies and partners as they confront violent extremism and conduct operations within their borders,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein in a U.S. Air Force press release published upon the issuance of the request for proposal. “Continuing this experiment, using the authorities Congress has provided, gives us the opportunity to put a small number of aircraft through the paces and work with partner nations on ways in which smaller, affordable aircraft like these can support their air forces.” ACC will experiment with the AT-6 to further examine the ways in which a common architecture and intelligence-sharing network will connect platforms, sensors and weapons and deliver a digital network for light attack aircraft. “It's rewarding to equip U.S. and partner nations with an affordable, easy to maintain and highly effective tactical aircraft in this era of constrained military budgets,” Pierson added. “The U.S. Air Force and Navy flew the AT-6 during the Light Attack experiment, putting its combat-proven A-10 mission computer, Wescam MX-15 EO/IR sensor, Airborne Extensible Relay Over-Horizon Network (AERONet) and other capabilities to work, employing a substantial amount of ordnance, demonstrating aircrew re-fueling and re-arming at the Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) and conducting other activities in support of experiment objectives. The AT-6 met all of the experiment's standards and proved itself as a high performance, austere field-capable aircraft that delivers unparalleled mission capability, deployability and sustainability.” About the Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine The Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine multi-role turboprop delivers the greatest level of mission configurability, the most advanced ISR technology and the utmost deployability and sustainability. The AT-6 equips operators worldwide with an unparalleled value, ease of training, logistics efficiencies and 85 percent parts commonality with the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II. The AT-6 Wolverine will enter into service at Nellis AFB, Nevada for follow-on light attack experiments by U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps and partner countries and is available to its sister business unit, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), for contracted air services under the U.S. Navy's Terminal Attack Controller Trainer (TACT) program for live-air training of forward air controllers (FACs), joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) and forward air controllers (airborne) at NAS Fallon, Nevada. The AT-6 Wolverine features 35 weapons configurations that fulfill SOCOM Armed Overwatch requirements for Close Air Support (CAS), Armed Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR), Strike Coordination & Reconnaissance (SCAR), and Forward Air Control (Airborne) (FAC(A)). ### About Textron Aviation Defense LLC When military customers need airborne solutions for their critical missions, they turn to Textron Aviation Defense. With a legacy of thousands of proven Integrated Training Systems (ITS) Integrated Weapon Systems (IWS) produced and missionized in America's Heartland since WWII, the family of Textron aircraft equip militaries worldwide with the lowest acquisition, sustainment and training costs on the market. Provider of the world's leading military flight trainer, the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II fleet of nearly 1,000 aircraft has logged more than 3.3 million hours across nearly a dozen countries worldwide since 2001. Purpose-built for light attack, Close Air Support (CAS), Precision Strike, and SOF Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) in austere and permissive environments, the Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine turboprop meets the full spectrum of U.S. Air Force Light Attack Aircraft requirements while delivering the greatest level of mission configurability, the most advanced ISR technology and the world's most cost-effective solution combining proven systems from the A-10C, F-16 and T-6 with commercial off-the-shelf components designed to drive down acquisition and total lifecycle costs. The open architecture Scorpion jet's unparalleled low acquisition, operating and training costs equip our warfighters with exceptional mission readiness, an 85-cubic ft payload bay, multi-spectral enhanced targeting, manned/unmanned teaming (MUM-T), cost-effective testbed capabilities and a full array of DoD-proven precision and general-purpose munitions with limitless possibilities. Textron Aviation's innovative technologies and advanced engineering techniques equip military customers worldwide with the performance, reliability and technological advantage they expect from an industry leader, all backed by proven training programs and the most capable global logistics infrastructure. Visit defense.txtav.com and scorpionjet.com About Textron Aviation Inc. Textron Aviation Inc. is the leading general aviation authority and home to the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands, which account for more than half of all general aviation aircraft flying. The Textron Aviation brands represent unrivaled innovation, performance and leadership in the industry, and offer an unmatched value proposition rooted in the total ownership experience. Leveraging unparalleled speed-to-market, Textron Aviation provides the most versatile and comprehensive business and general aviation product portfolio in the world through five principal lines of business: business jets, general aviation and special mission turboprop aircraft, high performance piston aircraft, military trainer and defense aircraft and a complete global customer service organization. Textron Aviation has delivered more than 250,000 aircraft in over 170 countries. Its broad range of products include such best-selling aircraft as Citation business jets, King Air and Caravan turboprops and T-6 military trainer aircraft, all of which are backed by the industry's most capable global service network. For more information, visit www.txtav.com About Textron Inc. Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information, visit: www.textron.com. Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changing priorities or reductions in the U.S. Government defense budget, including those related to military operations in foreign countries; changes in worldwide economic or political conditions that impact demand for our products, interest rates or foreign exchange rates; our ability to perform as anticipated and to control costs under contracts with the U.S. Government; the U.S. Government's ability to unilaterally modify or terminate its contracts with us for the U.S. Government's convenience or for our failure to perform, to change applicable procurement and accounting policies, or, under certain circumstances, to withhold payment or suspend or debar us as a contractor eligible to receive future contract awards; changes in foreign military funding priorities or budget constraints and determinations, or changes in government regulations or policies on the export and import of military products. Media Contact: Sylvia Pierson +1.316.617.7413 spierson@txtav.com www.defense.txtav.com View source version on TEXTRON: https://investor.textron.com/news/news-releases/press-release-details/2020/Textron-Aviation-Defense-announces-702M-US-Air-Force-contract-award-for-two-Beechcraft-AT-6-Wolverine-aircraft-training-and-support-services/default.aspx

After two years of intensive digital engineering, in 2020 the Army will pick either a Bell tiltrotor or a Sikorsky-Boeing compound helicopter to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. WASHINGTON: A Sikorsky-Boeing team won a $97 million award to refine their SB>1 Defiant high-speed helicopter over the next two years, the Army announced today, while Bell Textron won $84 million for its V-280 Valor tiltrotor. The two designs are vying to replace the Reagan-era UH-60 Black Hawk, the Army's workhorse air assault and medevac transport. The difference in amounts purely reflects the different approaches the two teams proposed for what's called Competitive Demonstration & Risk Reduction, Army officials told reporters. It doesn't imply either team has an advantage going into 2022, when the service will choose one design as its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), with the first operational units flying in 2030. FLRAA is just part of the flying “ecosystem” of manned and unmanned aircraft that the Army is developing under its Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, which in turn is just one of eight CFTs working on 31 high-priority projects. But FLRAA has been unusually visible, literally, because – as part of a program called the Joint Multi-Role Tech Demonstration – both companies have prototype aircraft actually flying. As we've reported previously, the SB>1 Defiant started flight tests a year later than the V-280 Valor, but Army officials reasserted today they'll have enough test data on both aircraft. “The flight envelope continues to expand for Sikorsky-Boeing, so they're flying a bit more aggressively now than the V-280,” said Brig. Gen. Walter Rugen, head of the FVL CFT. “Towards the end of this fiscal year, maybe August, we're going to see very comparable data on both.” “Flight time is only one of the inputs that goes into a multivariable non-linear calculation,” added the Army's aviation acquisition chief, Program Executive Officer Pat Mason. Not all flight hours are equally valuable, he told reporters, and flight hours alone are not enough. “[It's] what you did in flight, what you've done in modeling and simulation, how you're administering model design, how you [set up] your digital engineering development environment, what you've done in your component test, lab test, SIL [System Integration Lab] test. Taking the totality of those elements into consideration, what we see is a good competition between two vendors.” So while the two aircraft will continue flying to provide more performance data, the lion's share of the work over the next two years will be digital, explained the Army's program manager for FLRAA. “The preponderance of this effort is associated with digital engineering and model-based systems engineering,” Col. David Philips said. That means taking the real-world data from physical tests and rigorously refining every aspect of the design to meet the Army's needs from flight performance, combat survivability, affordability, sustainability, safety and more. The program's reached the phase of design refinement that's traditionally handled by engineers with slide rules on “reams of paper,” Mason explained, but which will now be accomplished in painstakingly precise virtual models and simulations of every aspect of the aircraft. “That is the future of design,” Mason said. “The key is that digital environment.... digital engineering and model-based engineering.” The flight tests of physical aircraft are proving out their novel configurations – designed to achieve high speed and long range that are aerodynamically unattainable for conventional helicopters. But the digital design phase is especially suited for working out the software that's essential to everything from flight controls to navigation to evading incoming anti-aircraft missiles. Rather than have each vendor fit the electronic jigsaw together in their own unique, proprietary way, the Army insists that FLRAA, its sister design the FARA scout, and a whole family of drones all use the same Modular Open Systems Architecture. MOSA is meant to ensure that all the aircraft can easily share data on everything from maintenance diagnostics to enemy targets, and that the Army can easily replace specific components (hence “modular”) using whatever vendor offers the best technology (hence “open”). To ensure different vendors' products plug and play together, Mason said, “we specify what we need in those interfaces, and we flow those out in models.” Those models will include simulations of the aircrafts' physical characteristics, but, since they're software themselves, they can contain the actual prototype code for the Modular Open Systems Architecture. In other words — let's get digital. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/fvl-bell-sikorsky-boeing-split-181m-to-finalize-flraa-designs

Both of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter assembly plants outside the United States are expected to be up and running by Wednesday after brief coronavirus-related shutdowns. Leonardo's final-assembly-and-checkout plant in Cameri, Italy, closed Monday and Tuesday for “deep cleaning and sanitization,” a person familiar with the F-35 program said Tuesday. That assembly plant is expected to reopen on Wednesday. And Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' F-35 plant in Japan reopened this week after being closed last week, the person said. Meanwhile the Lockheed Martin factory in Fort Worth, Texas, which builds F-35s for the U.S. military and most overseas customers, has not been affected by COVID-19, which has shuttered businesses and prompted firms across the United States to allow some employees to work from home. “There's been no significant impact to production or supply chain at this time,” the person familiar with the program said on the condition of anonymity. In an emailed statement, Lockheed Martin, the lead F-35 contractor said: “As we monitor global developments we continue to use best practices to mitigate risks related to Coronavirus (COVID-19), while supporting the critical missions of our customers.” Lockheed Martin has been urging employees potentially exposed to COVID-19 to work remotely and self-quarantine. https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/03/italys-f-35-line-shuts-down-japans-reopens/163862

By BARRY ROSENBERGon March 17, 2020 at 12:53 PM The urgency to protect troops, bases, and installations from drone attacks changed forever last year when a swarm of small, low-flying drones unleashed by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels targeted Saudi Arabian oil processing facilities. The attack was nothing less than a Pearl Harbor-type wake-up call for the need to counter unmanned aerial systems with defense technology commonly referred to as C-UAS. This Breaking Defense E-Brief examines U.S. Defense Department and global efforts to stay ahead of the threat. It examines sensor development to detect UAS, the use of artificial intelligence to identify targets, and defeat mechanisms ranging from jamming to lasers to knock them down. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/ebrief-drones-an-immediate-threat-dod-plans-rapid-acquisition-of-counter-uas-systems

ARMY Phoenix Logistics Inc.,* Gilbert, Arizona, was awarded a $516,000,000 cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price contract to provide capabilities to the Joint Land Component Constructive Training Capability across the range of warfighting functions. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 16, 2030. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-D-0010). Rock Island Integrated Services, Rock Island, Illinois, was awarded a $7,463,098 modification (P00024) to contract W52P1-J-19-C-5003 for base operations support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Rock Island, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of March 14, 2021. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity. NAVY DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $104,085,696 modification (P00050) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost reimbursable contract (N00421-17-C-0033). This modification exercises an option to provide maintenance and logistics support on all aircraft and support equipment for which the Naval Test Wing Atlantic has maintenance responsibility. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be complete by March 2021. Fiscal 2020 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $47,233,324; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,038,915; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $921,844 will be obligated at the time of award, $13,038,915 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Honeywell International Inc., Defense & Space, Tempe, Arizona, is awarded $72,817,953 for an indefinite-delivery, performance-based logistics requirements contract for the repair, replacement and program support for auxiliary power units used on combat jets, maritime surveillance and cargo aircraft models (the F/A-18, A-G, P-3 and C-2). Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (50%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (39%); and various contractor facilities (11%). Work is expected to be complete by March 2022. The work performed also provides coverage for the main fuel controls and electronic control unit used on the F/A-18 and the P-3 engine driven compressor. This contract includes a two-year base period with no options. Annual working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $36,555,518 will be obligated for delivery order (N00383-20-F-0WP0) that will be awarded concurrently with the contract. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One company was solicited for this non-competitive requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00383-20-D-WP01). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $65,815,333 cost-plus-incentive, fixed-price-incentive modification to previously awarded contract N00024-13-C-5225 for the production and engineering services of the Navy's Undersea Warfare Systems (model AN/SQQ-89A(V)15) for surface ships. Work will be performed in Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania (54%); Clearwater, Florida (22%); Syracuse, New York (7%); Manassas, Virginia (6%); Hauppauge, New York (5%); Oswego, New York (5%); and Tewksbury, Massachusetts (1%), and is expected to be complete by May 2022. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy); 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); and 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount $65,815,333 will be obligated at the time of award, and $50,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. The Haskell Co., Jacksonville, Florida, is awarded a $9,498,353 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of the P680 CH-53K cargo loading tower at the Marine Corps Air Station in New River, North Carolina. Work will be performed in New River, North Carolina, and is expected to be complete by April 2022. The work to be performed will provide a high-bay facility that will house an operations trainer to support CH-53K helicopter pilot and crew chief training program. Construction includes a deep pile foundation, grade beams and reinforced concrete slabs to provide the building's base while reinforced concrete masonry unit exterior walls and a standing seam metal roof provide the building enclosure. This facility will provide a covered, all-weather training environment for the ground operations aircrew trainer, a fuselage trainer device, pallet storage, retrieval and build-out packages associated with troop deployment and mobility. The facility includes high-bay roll-up doors and concrete drive aprons to accommodate moving the aircraft frame in and out of the building. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $9,498,353 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with five proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0066). AIR FORCE InDyne Inc., Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $51,386,233 modification (P00042) to previously awarded contract FA2517-18-C-8000 for Solid State Phased Array Radar Systems (SSPARS). This modification provides for the exercise Option Year Two for the management, operation, maintenance, and logistical support of SSPARS. Work will be performed at Beale Air Force Base, California; Cape Cod Air Force Station, Massachusetts; Clear Air Force Station, Alaska; Thule Air Base, Greenland; and Royal Air Force Fylingdales, United Kingdom, and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the full amount were obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $143,875,078. The 21st Contracting Squadron, Peterson AFB, Colorado, is the contracting activity. The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $45,000,000 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for the Quicksilver Device prototype. This contract provides for the design, build, and test of an operational Quicksilver Device prototype. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Reston, Virginia, and is expected to be completed March 18, 2027. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition, and fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $7,491,567 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8684-20-D-4000). (Awarded March 16, 2020) Data Computer Corp. of America, Ellicott City, Maryland, has been awarded a $7,201,113 fixed-price incentive-firm target modification (P00025) to contract FA880-6-16-F-0002 for the Western Range Modernization Network operations, maintenance and sustainment. This modification supports an increase in operational requirements. Work will be performed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 and space procurement funds are being obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson AFB, Colorado, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Capps Shoe Co.,* Lynchburg, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $15,396,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for men's poromeric shoes. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a one-year base year contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a March 17, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1246). The Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $9,312,000 undefinitized, firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-20-F-CB04) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-19-G-CB01) for electronic modules for the H-53 aircraft. 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 two-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Texas, with a March 7, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. CORRECTION: The contract announced on March 12, 2020, for American Autoclave Co., Jasper, Georgia (SPE4A8-20-C-0001), was announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is March 17, 2020. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2115416/source/GovDelivery/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army has selected Bell and Sikorsky to enter into a competitive demonstration and risk reduction effort ahead of the start of the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, or FLRAA, program of record. The service is on a tight timeline to field a new long-range assault aircraft by 2030. The CDRR will consist of two phases that will last roughly one year each. The companies will deliver initial conceptual designs, an assessment of the feasibility of requirements and trade studies using model-based systems engineering. The competition for the program of record will begin in 2022 with a plan to field the first unit equipped in 2030. Congress added $76 million in funding to the aircraft program's top line in fiscal 2020 to drive down technical risk and speed up delivery. The money, which Congress approved as part of its FY20 appropriations bill signed into law in December, will fund the CDRR effort. The Army completed its Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration, or JMR TD, for which Bell and the Sikorsky-Boeing team each built aircraft to help the service understand what is possible for a future aircraft — mainly to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. “These agreements are an important milestone for FLRAA,” Patrick Mason, the Army's aviation program executive officer, said in a statement issued March 16. “The CD&RR continues to transition technologies from the JMR-TD effort to the FLRAA weapons system design. We will be conducting analysis to refine the requirements, conceptual designs, and acquisition approach. Ultimately, this information and industry feedback are vital to understanding the performance, cost, affordability, schedule risks and trades needed to successfully execute the FLRAA program.” Bell has flown its V-280 Valor tilt-rotor demonstrator for two years in the JMR-TD and has logged more than 160 hours of flight time on the experimental aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing's SB-1 Defiant coaxial demonstrator had a more difficult time getting off the ground due to issues in manufacturing its rotor blades. Its first flight was in March 2019. Even though Defiant has flown for a significantly reduced amount of time, the Army has determined it has enough data to move forward on its FLRAA program rather than extend the JMR TD to wait for the Sikorsky-Boeing team to log flight time. Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of the service's future vertical lift modernization efforts, said last spring that because of the data collected through the JMR TD process as a well as additional studies and modeling, the service now thinks it has enough information to move more quickly into a full and open competition for FLRAA. Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, the military deputy to the acquisition chief, said in a Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee hearing around the same time that the Army is presenting an acquisition strategy to the Pentagon's acquisition chief focusing on a nondevelopmental item approach to procuring FLRAA. That route, Ostrowski said, could lead to a competitive downselect by FY22. The extra funding provided by Congress will give the service the ability to continue to fly and burn down that inherent risk in developing a new helicopter. “What [that] may do as we hit those gates, is allow us to take what was going to be a primary budget, really a starting budget for the Army in ‘23 and ‘24, and potentially move that selection back to ‘23,” Rugen said recently. “We are not going to go to selection if, number one, we don't have requirements stable, we don't have resources stable, and, number two, the technology is not there.” The Army already has had a robust technology demonstrator program, including an extension, Rugen said, but that type of effort doesn't garner the same data as a prototype demonstration or a full-up weapon system. “In the CDRR [competitive demonstration and risk reduction], we're really trying to develop a weapons system, not the tech demonstrator,” Rugen said. “So we're trying to take it to the next level.” The CDRR will assess a laundry list of technologies identified through an Office of the Secretary of Defense-conducted independent technology readiness assessment, which would require additional evaluation to reduce risk, according to Rugen. Some of these technologies include the powertrain, drivetrain and control laws of the aircraft. “When we look at the software involved in flight controls, we have to really reduce risk there,” Rugen noted. The CDRR will also allow the Army to work on the integration of its mission systems. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/03/16/army-selects-companies-to-continue-on-in-long-range-assault-aircraft-competition/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin, which builds the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon system for the U.S. Army, has awarded BAE Systems a contract to design and manufacture a next-generation seeker for the system's interceptors, according to a BAE announcement posted March 17. “The sensor design work will improve the missile defense system's ability to neutralize more threats and improve its manufacturability,” the statement read. The company did not disclose the contract amount or timelines to develop a design. The THAAD weapon system is part of the Army's layered approach to missile defense, now with its ability to defeat ballistic missile threats in the terminal phase of flight, but the Missile Defense Agency also wants to make it part of its future homeland defense architecture. BAE already provides the seeker for the THAAD system, which uses infrared imagery to guide the interceptors to threat targets, and the company has delivered more than 500 THAAD seekers to date, according to the statement. While the seekers are built in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Endicott, New York, the company plans to conduct design work for the next-generation seeker in Huntsville, Alabama, home of Redstone Arsenal and the Army's missiles and space programs. BAE Systems is building a state-of-the-art facility that will house a “cutting-edge” design program in Huntsville, the company noted. While the Army plans to continue using THAAD far into the future, the MDA is, in fiscal 2021, planning to allocated $273.6 million for THAAD development efforts, including the THAAD homeland defense tier. Specifically, the agency is asking for $139 million in FY21 to start the development and demonstration of a new interceptor prototype for THAAD, which could support a tiered and layered approach to homeland defense. BAE Systems did not say whether the next-generation interceptor design work includes efforts related to MDA's desire to produce a new interceptor prototype. The agency is “challenging ourselves” to figure out how to develop a THAAD interceptor that would work against an intercontinental ballistic missile, Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the MDA's director, said when the FY21 defense budget request was released in February. To do that, the MDA is seeking to draw lessons from building THAAD batteries for Saudi Arabia, he said. The agency is also looking at the existing engineering trade space. “We may consider an upgraded propulsion stack to give [THAAD] extended range, don't know yet,” he said. “It could be that we don't want to update the propulsion. Maybe there is something in the seeker that would buy us more in the trade space now.” The THAAD interceptor program is a new start in the FY21 budget request, Hill noted. “We are working our way through what that program would look like.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/army-modernization/2020/03/17/bae-nabs-next-gen-seeker-design-work-for-us-army-missile-defense-system/