Nouvelles

By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The chairmen of the House foreign affairs and intelligence committees are pushing a measure meant to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control agreement amid fears President Donald Trump will let it lapse. Led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the proposal would require congressional approval to increase the nuclear arsenal above the limits of the 2010 New START treaty, if the pact is allowed to expire next year. The measure was offered as an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which is set for floor consideration next week. Engel's amendment was cosponsored by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee Chairman Jim Langevin, D-R.I. “This Administration's recklessness has left New START as the only remaining agreement limiting Russia's nuclear weapons. Despite the White House's claims, there's no ‘better deal' with Russia and China on the horizon, and the clock on New START is ticking,” Engel said in a statement. “The president doesn't seem to have a problem with Russia developing more and more nuclear weapons that could strike the United States, so Congress has to do everything we can to keep these protections in place.” The action came days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned he's not very optimistic about prospects for an extension because of Washington's focus on making China sign onto the pact. U.S. and Russian envoys held talks last month in Vienna, but Beijing has refused to take part. Engel's amendment states that the U.S. should extend the pact for five years, to an expiration date of February 5, 2026, unless Russia is in material breach of the treaty or if it is replaced by a new, stronger agreement. It also provides the executive branch with permission to continue inspection activities and other transparency measures if New START expires on February 5, 2021, assuming that the government of Russia reciprocates these steps The New START treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance. The amendment would bar funding to increase the arsenal above the treaty limits unless the president notifies Congress in advance of the new military requirements, certifies that the additional deployments are necessary and justifies the deployments, reports the associated costs and operational implications, and requires that any increase in deployed nuclear weapons is subject to a joint resolution of approval. It also requires detailed reports on Russian nuclear forces and, with and eye toward potential growth in China's nuclear arsenal, requires briefings and reports regarding the administration's arms control approach with Beijing, according to a summary. It also requires a presidential certification before New START would lapse that this would serve U.S. national security interests, an assessment whether continuing limits on Russian nuclear forces would serve U.S. interests and a plan for how the U.S. military and intelligence communities will address the post-New START environment, including the potential funding and development of additional nuclear deterrence and intelligence requirements. If Engel's amendment is accepted by the House Rules Committee and adopted by the House, it would almost certainly invite resistance from hawkish supporters of the president during negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the NDAA. Senate Armed Services Committee's Chairman Jim Inhofe, a proponent of nuclear weapons spending, has historically been a skeptic of the treaty. Kingston Reif, the Arms Control Association's director for disarmament and threat reduction policy, said the Trump administration doesn't seem like it will extend New Start and that Congress ought to be putting in roadblocks. “Crucially, the amendment would require congressional approval to increase the nuclear arsenal above the treaty limits, if the treaty is allowed to expire next year. A decision as consequential as increasing the size of the deployed arsenal, which hasn't occurred in decades, merits special scrutiny,” Reif said. After both Moscow and Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year, New START is the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries. Russia has offered its extension without any conditions, while the Trump administration has pushed for a new arms control agreement that would also include China. Moscow has described that idea as unfeasible, pointing at Beijing's refusal to negotiate any deal that would reduce its much smaller nuclear arsenal. Trump declared an intention to pull out of the agreement in May, citing Russian violations. Russia denied breaching the pact, which came into force in 2002, and the European Union has urged the U.S. to reconsider. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/07/15/key-house-democrats-want-to-lock-in-new-start-weapons-limits/

By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The European Union should prepare for the possibility of a gradual disengagement by the United States from the continent, even if Democratic challenger Joe Biden beats President Donald Trump in the November election, according to Germany's defense minister. Speaking before the European parliament on Tuesday, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said she believes only the “tone” in trans-Atlantic relations would change following a Biden win. The reorientation of America's foreign policy toward China as a global rival would remain a key driving force in Washington, possibly at the expense of Europe, she said. “If that is the case, it means we Europeans must become able to act more so than is the case today,“ she said in testimony meant to lay out Germany's defense agenda during a six-month turn at the helm of the European Council of the EU that began July 1. To be sure, Kramp-Karrenbauer stressed that Europe remains dependent on U.S. and NATO support, and that there's no sign of that equation changing anytime soon. German leaders have consistently held up the trans-Atlantic alliance as a cornerstone of their geopolitical calculus, even as Trump took shots at Berlin for the its lackluster defense spending. But the defense minister's assessment that nothing other than the style of discourse would change with Trump's exit — he is trailing Biden in recent polls — may be a sign that Germans suspect bigger forces at play on the other side of the Atlantic. In that light, the Defence Ministry's defense agenda for the EU reads as something of a toolkit to avoid getting caught flat-footed. Creating a “strategic compass“ for the bloc, as Kramp-Karrenbauer called it, would be a key step in ensuring all member states back a common foreign and defense policy. An EU-wide threat assessment is the first step in that process, overseen by the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre and supported by member nations‘ intelligence services, she said. The assessment is slated to be “far along“ and will ideally be finished by the end of the year, when Germany hands the presidency baton to Slovenia, Kramp-Karrenbauer said. Also needed is a bloc-wide “operational understanding“ for whenever there is actual fighting to be done, according to the defense minister. Even peacekeeping and training missions, which tend to dominate the EU mission roster, always come with more kinetic, force-protection elements, for example, and there should be a process in place for setting up those types of operations, she argued. “You could approach it with the idea that this would fall to the same few countries in Europe, or you could develop a method as part of the strategic compass that this would become a matter for all members,“ Kramp-Karrenbauer said. West Africa could be a first test case of waning U.S. concerns about European interests. An American counterterrorism mission there has been crucial in supporting a U.N. peacekeeping force of EU and African troops. European leaders consider the region a hotbed for terrorism, fearing the possibility of fighters making their way to Europe. But the mission is controversial in the United States, and an American withdrawal could be in the offing at some point, Kramp-Karrenbauer said. “That is a scenario that we could find ourselves confronted with in the future.“ There is also the question of a withdrawal of almost 10,000 U.S. forces from Germany, the details of which are still somewhat shrouded in mystery. Hashed out by Trump and a small circle of White House advisers, military leaders are still figuring out the details for implementing the decision, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in a phone call with reporters Wednesday. McCarthy said he discussed the matter with U.S. Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, NATO's top general for Europe, earlier that day. But he had little to share about the process, saying only that Pentagon officials would release more details in the coming weeks. The “repositioning,“ as McCarthy called the move, is controversial among defense analysts on both sides of the Atlantic because it could simultaneously hurt America's and Europe's defense posture. Germany is a hub for U.S. troop training and logistics that would be difficult to quickly recreate elsewhere, the argument goes. The fact that military officials are only now doing the analytic legwork for a possible redeployment shows that no such examinations took place before Trump's announcement, retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, told Defense News. Hodges said he was encouraged to see U.S. lawmakers question the decision, forcing a say on the issue by way of legislation. “Congressional support for NATO and for the German-U.S. relationship remains very strong,“ he said. Meanwhile, opinions differ on how much of a change a Biden presidency would bring to the trans-Atlantic alliance. “If you look at everything that Joe Biden has said, you certainly get the impression that he is interested in restoring alliances, including in Europe,“ said Jeffrey Rathke, president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. “Of course there would be a different tone,“ he added. “But the substance would be different as well.“ For now, the German Defence Ministry's apparent trajectory of planning for a future where U.S. commitment may be iffy at best can bring more good than harm, he argued. Fears of an increasingly belligerent Russia and Trump's overt questioning of international alliances as key to keeping the peace have driven a wave of increased defense spending on the continent in recent years. “The things that Europe needs to do for its own security are precisely the things that improve the trans-Atlantic security relationship,“ Rathke said. When it comes to Washington's focus on China versus Europe, paying attention to different regions of the world should be possible simultaneously, he argued. “This is not an either-or situation. That's not how the United States should look at it.“ https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/07/15/germany-sets-up-a-european-defense-agenda-with-a-waning-us-footprint-in-mind/

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a contract for the first two production lots of its Limited Interim Missile Warning System, or LIMWS. The contract, which is worth $179 million, also includes funding to field the next-generation Missile Warning System, an upgrade on the Army's Common Missile Warning System. “Threats are evolving and proliferating at a rapid pace and our aircrews who fly into harm's way need the most advanced protection systems available,” Chris Austin, director of threat detection solutions at BAE Systems, said in a statement. “These orders follow an intensive two-year development and qualification program, made possible by a strong industry-government partnership focused on achieving an aggressive schedule.” The company won an initial $98 million contract to produce the systems in April 2018, with the goal of putting the capability onto 400 Black Hawk helicopters. A BAE spokeswoman this week declined to comment on what systems the LIMWS might deploy on. The Army competitively awarded that initial contract to BAE through a quick reaction capability mechanism, which bypasses the traditional lengthy acquisition process. The core of the upgrade is BAE's 2-Color Advanced Warning System, or 2CAWS, which the company says includes “an open system processor, two-color infrared sensors for increased range, and a fiber optic A-kit for faster data transmission.” Put simply, the 2CAWS should allow pilots to receive signals of incoming threats more quickly than before, and should be compatible with existing Army missile warning systems. Work will occur at the company's Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Huntsville, Alabama, facilities, the latter of which is undergoing upgrades for the project. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/07/15/us-army-awards-179m-missile-warning-contract-to-bae-systems/

By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON — Pentagon leaders need “around $10 billion” in the next pandemic aid package to cover defense contractors' coronavirus-related costs, according to a top defense leader. But it's unclear how the hefty funding handout will square with Republican skepticism of new deficit spending after already approving aid packages worth trillions. On Monday, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment Alan Shaffer said the money is needed to cover a host of defense contractors' coronavirus-related expenses. Without it, the Department of Defense will have to dip into modernization and readiness funds, potentially jeopardizing smaller firms in the defense industrial base waiting for the cash. “If there is another supplemental or stimulus package for realistic economic adjustment, we could be looking at somewhere around $10 billion in additional program costs,” Shaffer said on the Government Matters television show that aired Monday. Last week, the leaders of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Raytheon, BAE Systems, Huntington Ingalls, Textron, and L3Harris Technologies sent letters to Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord and acting White House budget chief Russell Vought, worried about the health of their smaller subcontractors without additional aid. The CEOs, noting their sector employs 2 million people, warned such a defense budget disruption “would create a ripple effect throughout the defense industrial base, leading to less investment in new technologies and significant job losses in pivotal states just as we are trying to recover from the pandemic,” they wrote in the letter to Vought. It's potentially a potent message for the White House as recent polls show President Donald Trump faces a rockier path to reelection. Trump is trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden in six battleground states he won in 2015, according to a New York Times survey, and a Real Clear Politics average of polls showed Biden leading Trump by nine points Tuesday. Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act allows defense firms to seek reimbursement for pandemic-related expenses, for which Lord has said DoD would request in the “lower end” of “tens of billions of dollars.” But the Democrat-led House Appropriations committee passed a fiscal 2021 defense spending bill Tuesday that included far less: $758 million. “We need to do something,” the subpanel's ranking member Ken Calvert, R-Calif., told Defense News. “The defense industry is not immune to what's happening from COVID-19, like every other sector of the economy, and they've suffered the last few months, just like any business. They've had slowdowns, cost increases, they've had to acquire a lot of [personal protective equipment], and implement new safety guidelines.” Loren Thompson, a defense-industry consultant and analyst with the Lexington Institute, estimates the sector's pandemic-related expenses could total more than $20 billion. Additional emergency money is thought to not only help major firms, but small and medium-sized firms whose slim profit margins and minimal cash reserves mean they're more apt to furlough employees in a pinch — potentially triggering production breaks for major programs. “As far as I know, the big system integrators have not been furloughing defense workers, but at the subcontractor level, some of those shops just don't have a choice,” he said. Still, many GOP lawmakers under pressure from conservative groups have been lukewarm about President Donald Trump's push for tax cuts and infrastructure spending on top of the $3 trillion in funds approved so far. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., — who has been in weeks-long discussions with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on the next phase of coronavirus relief — outlined a proposal last week that emphasized a liability shield for companies operating during the pandemic, but with no mention of defense industry aid. In a recent appearance in Kentucky, McConnell acknowledged the concerns of GOP colleagues who are worried about the mounting deficit. “It does raise a good deal of concern because we now have a debt, a cumulative debt, the size of our economy for the first time since World War II,” he said. “Believe me, we would not have done that under any circumstances.” Some lawmakers from both parties have been wary of new spending that favors a specific industry, particularly after the Pentagon won a timely budget at record levels, said an industry source. Defense firms pleading their case are being asked whether they have tapped other provisions in the CARES Act, like payroll tax deferrals, the employee retention tax credit or a $17 billion emergency loan fund. (Many defense firms have resisted applying for the loans, which allow the government an equity stake.) “You talk to some Democratic offices, and some Republican, and they say the defense bill is already one big stimulus for the defense industry,” said the industry source. “I think that's a mischaracterization because the taxpayer dollars aren't spent to make Lockheed Martin more profitable, it's for planes, ships and submarines that you need, but it's really hard.” In May, Democratic lawmakers questioned Pentagon leaders sharply about why they had spent just 23 percent of the $10.5 billion DoD had received under the CARES Act. The Pentagon responded with with its spending plan for the aid, which allocated $688 million to aid suppliers of aircraft engine parts, shipbuilding, electronics and space launch. This June, the country incurred its biggest monthly deficit ever, $864 billion, which topped the previous single month deficit record, $738 billion in April. With the long-term debt totaling more than $26 trillion and the Congressional Budget Office predicting the deficit will reach $3.7 trillion for the year, some Republicans have voiced concern about the unpredictable effect adding more could have on the economy. “If we're spending a lot of money, we have to be careful that we don't break the country,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., recently told the Wall Street Journal. Fiscally conservative groups have stepped up their lobbying of Republican lawmakers, many of whom consider themselves fiscal hawks but voted to lift budget caps for roughly $1.5 trillion in defense spending in 2019′s two-year budget deal. A coalition of conservative leaders sent a letter to Trump and McConnell last month warning Congress's coronavirus spending must stop because the total is approaching $10 trillion. FreedomWorks Vice President of Legislative Affairs Jason Pye said Republican lawmakers are justifiably concerned about alienating deficit-conscious conservatives ahead of the next election, but they're also genuinely wary. “Most of the members I've talked to are saying they want to either limit the size of the next phase or they don't want to spend any more money,” he said. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/07/14/the-pentagon-wants-a-10b-defense-industry-cash-injection-is-congress-listening/

ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $249,000,000 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed price) contract for Increment I of the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0382). Hensel Phelps, Phoenix, Arizona, was awarded a $91,819,195 firm-fixed-price contract for a ground based strategic deterrent mission integration facility at Hill Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, with an estimated completion date of March 16, 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction, defense-wide funds in the amount of $35,747,184 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento, California, is the contracting activity (W91238-20-C-0012). Burns and McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc., Kansas City, Missouri (W912HP-20-D-5000); Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas (W912HP-20-D-5001); and Exp Federal Inc., Chicago, Illinois (W912HP-20-D-5002), will compete for each order of the $49,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multidiscipline architect-engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 19 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. TeamGOV Inc.,* Hyattsville, Maryland, was awarded a $7,531,979 modification (P00003) to contract W912DY-19-F-1336 to maintain complete and functional access control point control systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Killeen and Fort Bliss, Texas; McAlester and Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Polk, Louisiana; White Hall, Arkansas; Camp Roberts and Fort Irwin, California; Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $3,183,862 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. A Finkl and Sons Finkl Steel-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $7,181,165 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of hollow preform forgings for Watervliet Arsenal, New York. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Chicago, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of July 15, 2024. Fiscal 2020 revolving funds in the amount of $7,181,165 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W911PT-20-C-0022). NAVY Raytheon Technologies, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, is awarded an $88,050,510 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-6423 for the production of the MK54 Lightweight Torpedo MOD 0 and MOD 1 common part kits and spare torpedo components. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (18%); and the governments of Canada (72%); Republic of Korea (5%); Denmark (3%); Australia (1%); and Spain (1%), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (95%); and Keyport, Washington (5%), and is expected to be completed by May 2023. FMS funding in the amount of $71,687,560; and fiscal 2020 and 2018 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $16,145,556 and $217,394 respectively, will be obligated at time of award, of which $217,394 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ERAPSCO JV, Sparton and USSI, Columbia City, Indiana, is awarded a $71,801,600 modification (P00005) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to provide for the production and delivery of a maximum quantity of 20,000 AN/SSQ-125 Sonobuoys production. Sonobuoys are air launched expendable, electro-mechanical anti-submarine warfare acoustic sensors designed to relay underwater sounds associated with ships and submarines. Work will be performed in De Leon Spring, Florida (51%); and Columbia City, Indiana (49%), and is expected to be completed by July 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $26,463,116 cost-plus-fixed fee and cost only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-5501 to exercise options and realign level of effort ceiling for Air and Missile Defense Radar AN/SPY-6(V) integration and production support efforts. Work will be performed in Marlborough, Massachusetts (64%); Kauai, Hawaii (12%); Fair Lakes, Virginia (10%); Moorestown, New Jersey (8%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (6%); and San Diego, California (less than 1%). This option exercise is for performance of the integration and production support for continued combat system integration and test, engineering, training, software, depot maintenance and field engineering in support of the Air and Missile Defense Radar AN/SPY-6(V). Work is expected to be completed by November 2020. Fiscal 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $35,960,832 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $15,410 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured under the statutory authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $12,201,000 for ceiling-priced delivery order N00383-20-F-A341 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-17-G-A301 for the procurement of multiple flight control surfaces in support of the Boeing F/A-18 E-G Super Hornet aircraft. All work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by May 2026. Kuwait funds in the amount of $5,978,490 will be obligated at the time of award, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Kuwait (100%) funds will be used under the Foreign Military Sales program. One company was solicited for this sole-source requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and one offer was received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. SJC-BVIL*, Montrose, Colorado, is awarded a $9,592,555 firm-fixed-price task order (N40084-20-F-4464) under a design-bid-build, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, unrestricted multiple awarded construction contract for commercial and institutional building construction contract to convert the overhead power and telephone lines to underground from wood power poles. The work is located from the Navy ammunition area to the Air Force ammunition area along DG1. The work will be performed at U.S. Naval Support Facility, Diego Garcia. All work will be performed in British Indian Ocean Territory. The work to be performed will replace the existing overhead feeder lines from technical feeder wood power poles (WPP) 26 to 82 and from non-technical feeder (WPP) 1013 to 1041 with underground loop-feed type system including conduits and conductors, pad-mounted transformer and switch, grounding system and related system appurtenances. End result is all referenced power and communication lines be underground and on the ocean side of the road. Work is expected to be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $9,592,555 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Far East, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity (N40084-18-D-0068). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Boeing Distribution Services Defense, O'Fallon, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $81,000,000 modification (P00067) exercising the first three-year option period of a four-year base contract (SPE5EY-16-D-0547) with two, three-year option periods for broad supply chain management of industrial hardware relating to maintenance, repair and overhaul missions. This is a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Missouri and Texas, with a July 31, 2023, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Grasmick Produce Co.,* Boise, Idaho, has been awarded a maximum $20,304,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruit and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a four-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Idaho, with a July 14, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Department of Agriculture schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-P357). AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $35,964,710 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract for repair of 174 B-52 Engine Nose Cowls for the B-52 Stratofortress Bomber jet. Work will be performed in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and is expected to be completed July 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 working capital funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8119-20-C-0004). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2275570/source/GovDelivery/

By Mila Jasper Information systems that are easy to integrate and build in cybersecurity practices at the foundation top officials' wishlist. The defense industry needs to focus on developing technology that is easy to integrate and meets cybersecurity norms from the get-go, according to military officials speaking at the 2020 Army Signal Conference. At the conference, hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, officials urged industry partners to create products that build in standard security principles at the outset of development and allow for a wide range of use cases. “Don't give me a bespoke, unique solution for one small problem, so that I can add it to the 42 other devices that I'm hooking up,” Brig. Gen. Paul Stanton, deputy director of operations for U.S. Cyber Command, said. “That's not helpful.” Stanton spoke Tuesday—the first day of the conference—on a panel regarding the importance of getting meaningful data to the front lines in real time. Figuring out how to create an information advantage faster than opponents is “warfighting 101,” Stanton argued, but it's an area that needs improvement. “How do I integrate these components? How do I design them such that they are intended to be integrated?” Stanton said. “These are some of the challenges that we need our industry partners to help us with.” Speaking on the same panel, Maj. Adam Brinkman, deputy to the chief technology officer for the Army Special Operations Command, agreed with Stanton's assessment. Brinkman emphasized the need for industry to make systems that integrate in order for their products to stay viable. “The problem that we've actually, honestly had is making sure the technology we receive can be successfully integrated,” Brinkman said. The Android Tactical Assault Kit, according to Brinkman, is a good example for industry developers to follow when it comes to creating solutions that fit the Army's integration vision. Also known as the Android Team Awareness Kit, ATAK is an off-the-shelf software tool with 40,000 users across the Defense Department. Brinkman highlighted ATAK's availability to a community of developers and its open-source code as contributors to its success. “What you have is essentially a meeting place where people can develop and create tools for you to quickly integrate into your environment,” Brinkman said. Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, head of the Defense Information Systems Agency, said in Wednesday session that innovation in the information technology frontier is not just about creating new technology but about making sure the full potential of that technology is realized. “We have all kinds of technology that we don't use, that we use 5%, 10% of the capability that's in it,” said Norton, responding to a moderator question. “We have to figure out how to actually use the capability that's embedded in the technology.” A key to making information systems that are easy to integrate is building security protocols into tools from the very start of development, Norton said. As customers, DISA and the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization are looking for IT providers that are able to meet standards such as the Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC, rather than pre-existing tools that add on security measures as an afterthought. “The cost of adding on cybersecurity is tremendous,” Norton said. “And it just won't work very well if you bolt it on at the end.” https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/07/pentagon-officials-industry-bring-us-tech-easy-integrate/166918/

Dans une tribune publiée dans le quotidien belge Le Soir et intitulée « L'UE ne peut pas sacrifier son budget de défense commune », des parlementaires nationaux et européens demandent de faire de la sécurité des citoyens et de la défense de l'Union une des priorités de la discussion budgétaire européenne. De précédentes négociations ont en effet conduit à une réduction substantielle, du Fonds européen de Défense (passé de 13 milliards d'euros sur 7 ans selon le projet de la Commission à quelque 6 milliards suite aux premières négociations de l'automne 2019 et à 8 milliards aujourd'hui) et du projet de mobilité militaire (passé de 6,5 milliards sur 7 ans à 1,5 milliard aujourd'hui), rappellent-ils. « La pression sur les dépenses de défense européenne sera cependant encore plus forte demain dans un contexte, où les thèmes de résilience, sécurité sanitaire ou sécurité humaine attireront plus facilement les dépenses publiques. Qu'en sera-t-il alors de notre avenir ? », demandent ces parlementaires. Le Soir du 13 juillet 2020 - Le Monde du 13 juillet 2020

Le président de la République Emmanuel Macron a promis le 14 juillet de « tenir le cap » en matière de défense dans le cadre de la Loi de programmation militaire (LPM) 2019-2025, qui définit les budgets annuels des armées sur cette période. « Comptez sur moi, je tiendrai le cap comme je l'ai fait depuis trois ans dans le cadre de la loi de programmation militaire afin que vous puissiez toujours avoir les moyens d'accomplir vos missions aujourd'hui comme demain d'autant qu'en matière de défense, demain, vous le savez, se prépare aujourd'hui », a-t-il expliqué. La LPM a prévu en 2021 un budget de 39,3 milliards (contre 37,6 milliards en 2020), dont 22,3 milliards pour l'agrégat Équipement (contre 20,8 milliards en 2020). Soit une nouvelle marche budgétaire de 1,7 milliard d'euros après celle de 2020. La Tribune du 14 juillet 2020

Chers utilisateurs, Merci de noter qu'afin d'améliorer la qualité de service de notre portail sécurité défense, nous allons procéder à une mise à jour en date du 27 Juillet 2020. Même si nous tenterons de limiter l'impact sur l'utilisation du portail, il se peut que vous rencontriez des difficultés de connexion à cette date, Nous nous excusons par avance de tout désagrément, Belle journée et au plaisir, L,équipe de SDQuébec