Nouvelles

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Chris Thatcher In an appearance before the Commons finance committee on May 12, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux suggested the federal deficit could vastly exceed the $252 billion he projected in mid-April as the government continues to unveil relief measures to help Canadians and businesses withstand the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Most admit it is to too early to tell what that will mean for future military procurement and the government's 2017 defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE), but think tanks and defence analysts are nonetheless forecasting turbulence ahead. “Over the past generation, recessions and the fiscal consolidation that has followed them have had a seriously negative impact on DND's (Department of National Defence) budget,” wrote Eugene Lang, an adjunct professor with the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University and Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, in a recent policy paper for CGAI. “The future for SSE and its associated funding does not look bright. National defence probably has a year or two before the crunch hits.” Christyn Cianfarani is more cautious, but the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) admits the “rumblings are there that we are naturally concerned. Anybody who knows their history will tell you that when federal governments have been in these deficit spending situations — and this is the largest since the Second World War — they typically will be looking for strategies to reduce that deficit in the long term and DND unfortunately is a target.” But pulling government funding from a sector that has weathered the COVID-19 storm reasonably well might be “counterintuitive,” she suggested. The sector “right now is one of the few that is able to contribute to the economy under this persistent pandemic environment ... If there are multiple waves of [the virus], defence will be one sector that actually can shoulder the ups and downs and return to remote operations if we get to that stage again.” “Pure play” defence companies with few or no ties to commercial aerospace and the travel industry have managed the risks well, she said. Most have so far avoided the workforce layoffs and temporary downsizing experienced in other sectors, though manufacturing has slowed to meet provincial health regulations. Some, in fact, have been hiring. “Aside from some localized instances of companies facing real challenges, I would say the overall health [of the sector] is not too bad,” she said. Following what she called a “choppy” roll out of COVID-19 related policies that cut across federal and provincial jurisdictions, defence companies have adapted. Some have retooled shop floors and supply chains to manufacture critically needed personal protective equipment (PPE). Others with government contracts have continued operations where possible, albeit at reduced levels to match restrictions at government facilities. Maintenance on some platforms such as submarines has halted. The federal government has been “very conscious of trying to keep the contracts moving and executing,” said Cianfarani. “For example, if you are in the Canadian shipbuilding program, you are still pushing forward. If you are part of that supply chain, that hasn't seen any tangible change in the expectations.” Furthermore, many smaller defence firms specialize in software development and cyber security, both of which remain in demand as governments and companies try to protect expanded networks that now include thousands of employees working from home. The greatest concern for members has been liquidity, she said. CADSI encouraged the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada to set aside their traditional risk aversion to the defence sector as they work with private sector lenders to support access to capital. The Business Credit Availability Program includes loans of up to $60 million and guarantees of up to $80 million. “We are quite proud of making a big intervention on that,” she said. “It was supposed to be open for all businesses and, irrespective of ... whether you characterize certain businesses as higher risk than others, it is an incentive program at the federal level.” An essential service At the outset of the COVID-19 economic slowdown, CADSI was a vocal advocate for defence as an essential service and greater harmonization of federal and provincial policies, including the rules that allow embedded contractors to access Canadian Armed Forces facilities. As provincial governments now begin easing restrictions and take the first tentative steps to open their economies, the association is calling for guidance and common standards, especially for the use of protective masks, gloves and other clothing. Of particular concern are the rules for employees of companies that embed on Wings and Bases to provide training, platform maintenance, healthcare and other services. “Who has to wear protective health equipment in a DND facility and is it the same [federal standard] across different provincial jurisdictions?” said Cianfarani. “If Ontario decides you have to stand two metres apart and Nova Scotia doesn't have the same policy,” it will create confusion. “If you need a particular face mask to go onto a DND base to perform maintenance on their aircraft, what does that look like? If it is so specialized, can you help us procure it? Or, if it is not so specialized, can you give us a specification so we can ensure that we do have it when we get spooled up to work?” Likewise, what PPE do companies need to provide when DND and other government employees visit their facilities? DND has released some information on “what they are starting to classify as health equipment versus PPE,” she said. “If companies have that information, they won't get to a DND facility and be surprised by a piece of PPE they need or a standard of working they need to accommodate.” Made in Canada The economic repercussions of the pandemic likely won't be felt in the defence sector for some time. Cianfarani noted that some companies have found opportunity in the crisis and will increase investments in automation, big data and other elements of Industry 4.0 as they position for the future. “This is probably an acceleration of something that has been going on slowly in the background for quite sometime,” she observed. But the pandemic has opened the door to a renewed discussion about a national defence industrial strategy, an issue CADSI has been flagging for over a decade. Buying made-in-Canada defence and security platforms and systems is more expensive, but the past months have demonstrated that protectionism is “alive and well.” President Donald Trump in early April asked U.S.-based 3M to stop supply N95 masks to Canada. “The crisis has certainly given us and the government, and Canadians in general, a renewed interest in the concept of having sovereign capability,” she said. Shifting to a procurement culture that accepts the risks and costs of Canadian-built equipment won't happen quickly or easily — it took about seven years to study and adopt recommendations for Canadian key industrial capabilities, she noted — “but I really do think if there is any opportunity, it is probably now, because the shock is still very prevalent in everyone's mind.” https://www.skiesmag.com/news/canada-defence-industry-covid

By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Four defense industry trade associations “strongly oppose" a handful of Pentagon-backed procurement reform proposals that they say would harm the defense industrial base, and they're asking Congress to reject them. Two of the proposals aim at controversial pricing practices used by TransDigm by requiring contractors to submit cost information for commercial items and by requiring contracting officers to conduct a commercial item determination for every procurement. Others would set a preference for performance-based contract payments and authorize the Defense Department to release or disclose detailed manufacturing or process data. The May 6 protest letter came from the Acquisition Reform Working Group — made up of the National Defense Industrial Association, American Council of Engineering Companies, the Computing Technology Industry Association and the Information Technology Industry Council — to the the House and Senate armed services committees. It comes as the panels were readying their drafts of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The Pentagon has worked to monitor its network of suppliers from the economic shocks associated with the coronavirus pandemic and to protect suppliers by using emergency funding from Congress to speed payments and improve cash flow along the supply chain. The trade groups noted they represent “thousands of small, mid-sized, and large companies in addition to hundreds of thousands of employees that provide goods, services, and personnel to the Department of Defense,” and said the four proposals a “could have significant consequences for the defense industrial base.” Congress focused ire at TransDigm last year after the Defense Department's Inspector General found for $26.2 million in parts the military bought from TransDigm, it earned $16.1 million in excess profit. Transdigm was the only manufacturer of the majority of the parts, which let it set the market prices even for competitively awarded parts. Though DoD has argued its contractors need new latitude to make commercial item determinations and obtain cost or pricing information to prevent the excessive pricing TransDigm was accused of, the trade groups argue the TransDigm's actions weren't facilitated by an inappropriate reliance on improper commercial item determinations, or insufficient access to pricing data. “As illustrated by the TransDigm Group, Inc's pricing practices, generally once a conversion to a commercial product or commercial service is made, it is common for prices to increase and subsequent contracting officers find it difficult to obtain data necessary to determine price reasonableness and negotiate fair and reasonable prices on behalf of the taxpayer,” the department said in its proposal. Another proposal would require a contractor to submit uncertified cost information for commercial item proposals or contracts less than $2 million. The idea behind the reform is DoD wants to be able to get more insight into the costs of sole-source items and put itself in a more favorable position to negotiate with sole-source companies. Congressional hearings on TransDigm's excessive pricing showed Defense leaders need the authority to obtain the data “to the extent necessary to determine price reasonableness is paramount in ensuring that such excessive pricing practices are curtailed.” But the trade groups argue that levying the new regulations would “add a significant barrier to commercial item acquisition, reduce information sharing, further burden the system, and impede—rather than enable—the delivery of capabilities to the warfighter at the ‘speed of relevance'—all with little to no added protection for the government or the taxpayer." The trade associations also opposed DoD's legislation to set a preference for performance-based contract payments. The groups said a DoD proposal to “recouple” total performance-based payments to total cost incurred would reverse Congress's previous work to emphasize performance over cost and contradict a spate of defense acquisitions rules. DoD's argument is that it shouldn't be reimbursing a contractor more than its actual costs, or it “would result in negative levels of contractor investment,” and create a disincentive for contractors to deliver. Another disputed proposal would let DoD release detailed manufacturing or process data, or DPMD, pertaining to privately funded commercial or noncommercial items outside of the government to third parties seeking to compete against the original equipment manufacturer. It's the latest episode in a running game of tug-of-war between industry and DoD over intellectual property. While Congress has in recent years prodded DoD to set intellectual property strategies early in acquisition programs and negotiate for IP rights on a case-by-case basis, the trade groups argue the proposal would give DoD “an automatic default authority” and “eliminate the possibility of a negotiated solution.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/05/15/citing-transdigm-dod-seeks-new-acquisition-powers-and-trade-groups-oppose/

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY BAE Systems Controls Inc., Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $1,116,966,065 modification (P00014) exercising the five-year option period of a 10-year base contract (SPE4AX-15-D-94l4) with one five-year option period for consumable and depot-level repairables supporting multiple weapon systems platforms. This is a firm-fixed-price requirements prospective price redetermination contract. Locations of performance are Indiana, Texas, Arizona, California, New Jersey, New York and New Hampshire, with a March 22, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Defense Logistics Agency and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia. Labatt Food Service, San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $78,373,493 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a two-year base contract with one one-year option period and one two-year option period. Locations of performance are Texas and New Mexico, with a May 10, 2022, performance completion date. Using military services are Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and civilian federal agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2020 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3250). AM General LLC, South Bend, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $7,042,059 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for diesel cylinder heads. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Location of performance is Indiana, with a May 15, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0097). AIR FORCE J Davis Construction Management Inc., Oxnard, California (FA8003-20-D-0008); Bishop Inc.,* Orange, California (FA8003-20-D-0009); SMNC Properties LLC, Saint Mary's, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0011); BC Schmidt Construction Inc.,* Colusa, California (FA8003-20-D-0016); Pacific Federal-Pacific Tech JV 2, Longview, Washington (FA8003-20-D-0010); MIWOK Construction LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada (FA8003-20-D-0012); ENH LLC, Garden Grove, California (FA8003-20-D-0013); Heffler Contracting Group, El Cajon, California (FA8003-20-D-0014); Aleut Field Services LLC, Fairbanks, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0015); Chatmon-VJR JV LLC, La Place, Louisiana (FA8003-20-D-0017); Good-Men Roofing and Construction Inc.,* San Diego, California (FA8003-20-D-0018); Prairie Band Construction Inc., Mayetta, Kansas (FA8003-20-D-0020); DKJR Roofing LLC,* Le Mars, Iowa (FA8003-20-D-0021); A-Vet Roofing & Construction LLC, Warner Robins, Georgia (FA8003-20-D-0019); PMR Services LLC, Watford City, North Dakota (FA8003-20-D-0022); RSSI Roofing Co.,* Essex, Maryland (FA8003-20-D-0028); Doliveira DJB JV LLC, Annapolis, Maryland (FA8003-20-D-0029); Kunj Construction Corp., Northvale, New Jersey (FA8003-20-D-0030); D.A. Nolt Inc.,* Berlin, New Jersey (FA8003-20-D-0023); Ocean Construction LLC, Marmora, New Jersey (FA8003-20-D-0024); Roofing Resources Inc.,* Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (FA8003-20-D-0025); Carroll's Roofing and Construction LLC, Arlington, Tennessee (FA8003-20-D-0026); Swan Contracting, Peterborough, New Hampshire (FA8003-20-D-0027); ACTS/Meltech JV1 LLC,* Virginia Beach, Virginia, (FA8003-20-D-0031); A-Vet Roofing & Construction LLC, Warner Robins, Georgia, (FA8003-20-D-0032); The Roof & Metal Co., El Paso, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0037); AR6-Cram Roofing JV,* New Braunfels, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0041); Brazos Roofing Intl of South Dakota,* Waco, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0042); CUE Enterprises Inc.,* Jacksonville, Florida (FA8003-20-D-0033); Carmen Express JV LLC,* McKinney, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0034); MIWOK Construction LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada (FA8003-20-D-0035); Platinum Roofing,* Sheridan, Arkansas (FA8003-20-D-0036); ENH LLC, Garden Grove, California (FA8003-20-D-0038); RYCARS Construction LLC,* Kenner, Louisiana (FA8003-20-D-0039); Good-Men Roofing and Construction Inc.,* San Diego, California (FA8003-20-D-0040); Topside Contracting LLC,* San Antonio, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0043); Heffler Contracting Group, El Cajon, California (FA8003-20-D-0044); PMR Services LLC, Watford City, North Dakota (FA8003-20-D-0045); Legacy JV Group LLC,* Warner Robins, Georgia (FA8003-20-D-0046); Advon Construction Corp.,* Tallahassee, Florida (FA8003-20-D-0048); Jordon Construction Co., Greenville, South Carolina (FA8003-20-D-0051); Best Value Management LLC,* Jacksonville, Florida (FA8003-20-D-0056); Associates Roofing & Construction Inc.,* Murrells Inlet, South Carolina ((FA8003-20-D-0057); Yerkes South-Advanced Roofing Inc., Crestview, Florida (FA8003-20-D-0060); Inland Construction and Engineering,* Panama City, Florida (FA8003-20-D-0067); Legacy JV Group LLC,* Warner Robins, Georgia (FA8003-20-D-0047); Carmen Express JV LLC,* McKinney, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0049); D.A. Nolt Inc.,* Berlin, New Jersey (FA8003-20-D-0050); Ocean Construction LLC, Marmora, New Jersey (FA8003-20-D-0052); Pacific Federal-Pacific Tech JV 1, Longview, Washington (FA8003-20-D-0053); Platinum Roofing,* Sheridan, Arkansas (FA8003-20-D-0054); Topside Contracting LLC,* San Antonio, Texas (FA8003-20-D-0055); Chatmon-VJR JV LLC, La Place, Louisiana (FA8003-20-D-0058); Ames1 DayNight JV, Anchorage, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0059); ACTS/Meltech JV1 LLC,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (FA8003-20-D-0061); RYCARS Construction LLC,* Kenner, Louisiana (FA8003-20-D-0062); CYE Enterprises Inc.,* Jacksonville, Florida (FA8003-20-D-0063); Swan Contracting, Peterborough, New Hampshire (FA8003-20-D-0064); Roofing Resources Inc.,* Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (FA8003-20-D-0065); Carroll's Roofing and Construction LLC, Arlington, Tennessee (FA8003-20-D-0066); Consolidated Enterprises Inc.,* Anchorage, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0002); Interior Alaska Roofing Inc.,* Fairbanks, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0004); EP Roofing,* Anchorage, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0003); Orion Construction Inc.,* Wasilla, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0005); Aleut Field Services LLC, Fairbanks, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0007); and Ames1 DayNight JV, Anchorage, Alaska (FA8003-20-D-0006), have been awarded a not-to-exceed $325,000,000 (all-inclusive/program wide) firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to 43 contract holders with 66 contracts for roofing repair, replacement and maintenance. Work will be performed at various Air Force contiguous U.S. installations and installations in Alaska, with work expected to be completed by May 14, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 69 offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $66,000 ($1,000 to each contract) are being obligated at the time of award. The 771st Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, has been awarded a $157,990,274 firm-fixed-price and cost reimbursable contract for performance of the Eglin backshop maintenance services contract. This contract provides for support for repair, maintenance and modification of F-15, F-16, UH1N, C-130 and other required aircraft, including maintaining support equipment and providing crash recovery services. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The period of performance includes a 30-day transition period, a one-year base year with six one-year options and an option to extend services for six months. This award is the result of a full and open competitive acquisition and six offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, test, development and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,098,853 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Test Center, Eglin AFB, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA2486-20-C-0003). Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $17,382,577 firm-fixed-price modification (A00072) to contract FA3002-17-C-0001 for base operations support services at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. Work will be performed at Keesler AFB and is expected to be completed May 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $17,365,577 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $78,311,850. The 81st Contracting Squadron, Keesler AFB, Mississippi, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $17,354,159 firm-fixed-price modification (P00024) to contract FA8675-18-C-0003 for the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile program. This modification provides for procurement of two new final assembly test sets and upgrade of two existing final assembly test sets. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2023. This contract involves unclassified Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Poland, Qatar, Spain and Romania. Fiscal 2019 missile procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $4,589,102; fiscal 2018 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,928,382; and FMS funds in the amount of $2,836,675 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. NISQA'A TEK LLC, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $7,608,038 firm-fixed-price contract for information technology services. This contract provides for Cyber Operations for Base Resilient Architectures (COBRA) support. Work will be performed at various locations throughout Pacific Air Force bases and is expected to be completed by May 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,608,038 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force District of Washington Contracting Office, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-20-C-0021). NAVY Alutiiq Logistics and Maintenance Services LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a $196,309,084 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support services at Naval Air Station China Lake, California. The maximum dollar value including the base period, seven option periods and a six-month option to extend services is $196,309,084. Work will be performed in China Lake, California, and provides for labor, supervision, management and materials (except those specified as government furnished) to perform various base operating support service functions. This includes operations support; supply services; facilities investment; custodial; pest control; refuse and recycling collection; grounds maintenance; street sweeping and snow removal; base support vehicle and equipment rental; and environmental services. Work is expected to be complete by December 2028. No funds will be obligated at time of contract award. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps); fiscal 2020 working capital funds (Navy); and fiscal 2020 Defense Health Program contract funds in the amount of $17,237,567 will be obligated for recurring services on an individual task order during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with four proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-20-D-0051). Mare Island Dry Dock LLC, Vallejo, California, is awarded a $33,532,308 firm-fixed-price contract for a 150-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry-docking of U.S. Ship Emory S. Land (AS 39). Work will be performed in Vallejo, California, and is expected to be complete by January 2021. This contract includes a base period and three options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $36,228,717. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $33,532,308 are obligated for fiscal 2020 and 2021, and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Government Point of Entry website and two offers received. The Naval Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-18-C-4552). S&K Aerospace LLC,* St. Ignatius, Montana, is awarded a $30,844,497 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the repair, overhaul and upgrade of 361 commercial common items used on the P-8A Poseidon maritime aircraft. Work will be performed at various contractor supplier locations (85%); and Byron, Georgia (15%). Work is expected to be completed by May 2025. This contract includes a five-year base period with no options. Working capital (Navy) funds will be obligated as individual orders are issued and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website as an 8(a) small business set-aside requirement, and eight offers were received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00383-20-D-XE01). The Nutmeg Co. Inc.,* Norwich, Connecticut, is awarded a $27,029,098 firm-fixed-price design-bid-build contract for the repair of Submarine A School Bachelor Quarters Building (BQB) 488, Naval Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut. Work will be performed at New London, Connecticut, and provides for whole building repairs to BQB 488, construction of a new sidewalk on the north side of the building and site grading in the courtyard area to channel water away from the building foundation. Interior repairs include, but are not limited to, an upgrade of existing fire protection; interior finishes; electrical; elevators; heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; plumbing and provide exterior enclosure repairs. Work is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $27,029,098 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM website with seven proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0025). Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded $16,931,540 for a not-to-exceed, undefinitized contract action for long-lead-time material in support of one Amphibious Assault Ship (General Purpose) Replacement (LHA(R)) Flight 1 ship (LHA 9). Work will be performed in Erie, Pennsylvania (47%); Tacoma, Washington (22%), Pascagoula, Mississippi (17%); Sheffield, United Kingdom (12%); and St. Louis, Missouri (2%), and provides the procurement of long-lead-time material for LHA 9, the fourth LHA(R), America class and the second LHA(R) Flight 1 variant. Work is expected to be complete by February 2024. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) advance procurement funding in the amount of $16,931,540 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and only one responsible source with no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-20-C-2437). General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $16,022,000 undefinitized contract action under previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-2101 to perform Large-Scale Vehicle (LSV) 2 system refurbishment. Work will be performed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. General Dynamics Electric Boat will obtain vendor services from Leonard DRS Naval Power Systems to support LSV 2 refurbishment. Work is expected to be complete by February 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount $4,000,000 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, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, California, is awarded a $13,229,197 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-4108 to exercise options for hardware procurement for the AN/USQ-82(V) Program in support of DDG-51 class new construction, DDG-51 class modernization and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (80%); and the governments of Japan (16%) and Australia (4%) under the FMS program. AN/USQ-82(V) Program is a control system network. Its purpose is to transfer mission critical data to and from users associated with combat, navigation, aviation, power, propulsion, steering, alarms and indicating, and damage control systems. Work will be performed in Smithfield, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be complete by August 2021. Fiscal 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); 2020 other procurement (Navy); and FMS Japan and Australia funds in the amount of $13,229,197 will be obligated at the time of the award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Liverpool, New York, is awarded a $7,894,505 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-6227 to exercise an option for the procurement of Navy equipment. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York, and is expected to be complete by October 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,894,505 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Huang-Gaghan JV Two,* Alexandria, Virginia, is awarded a $7,624,432 firm-fixed-price task order (N40080-20-F-4623) under a multiple award construction contract for the replacement of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system at Building 1864, Naval Support Activity South Potomac, Naval Support Facility, Indian Head, Maryland. Work will be performed in Indian Head, Maryland, and will demolish the existing HVAC system at Building 1864 and provide a new HVAC system. Building 1864 is a single story laboratory of approximately 20,000 square feet that is used for the testing and evaluation of energetic material. Construction is primarily focused on airside equipment. Replacement equipment and systems includes replacement of three rooftop air handling units and associated distribution ductwork, three central exhaust systems, local exhaust systems, remote variable air volume (VAV) supply terminals with hot water reheat and associated air volume tracking exhaust VAV terminals, steam humidifiers, steam generator for humidification, direct digital controls and other miscellaneous items. A new water treatment plant shall be provided to treat water for building humidification. Support from other construction trades is required to perform the HVAC system replacement. Roof structure and closure shall be modified, fire-rated partitions and penetrations shall be provided and electrical power and grounding shall be provided along with other miscellaneous work. Work is expected to be complete by January 2022. Fiscal 2020 Navy working capital contract funds in the amount of $7,624,432 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of fiscal year 2022. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-19-D-0001). ARMY Palomar Display Products,* Carlsbad, California, was awarded an $89,237,780 firm-fixed-price contract for biocular image control units, assorted spares and engineering services and repairs. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2027. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W909MY-20-D-0006). The Boeing Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $28,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for advanced procurement of long lead helicopter parts. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2022. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $28,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-F-0380). Greenland Enterprises Inc., Hampton, Virginia, was awarded a $19,635,242 firm-fixed-price contract to repair a hot water line. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction funds in the amount of $19,635,242 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-C-0008). CORRECTION: The contract announced on April 30, 2020, to L3 Technologies Inc., Londonderry, New Hampshire (W56HZV-20-F-0308), for illuminator infrared parts, is actually being awarded today. The award is for $7,450,000, not $17,135,000 as previously announced. DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Groton, Connecticut, has been awarded an $18,822,358 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the base period of a research and development effort for undersea sensing systems. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (60%); Woburn, Massachusetts (20%); Arlington, Virginia (7%); Pawcatuck, Connecticut (4%); Northridge, California (3%); Waltham, Massachusetts (3%); Orange, California (2%); and Concord, Massachusetts (1%), with an estimated completion date of October 2021. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $15,062,029 are being obligated at the time of award. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition in accordance with original broad agency announcement HR0011-17-S-0034. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-20-C-0100). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2188998/source/GovDelivery/

The congressional calendar and strategic inertia may come together to keep the defense budget relatively high. The calendar helps because the fiscal 2021 defense budget will likely be passed while Congress is in a free-spending mood. By MARK CANCIAN The current Washington consensus sees deep defense budget cuts in the face of soaring deficits driven by the emergency legislation to stabilize the American economy as it reels from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It may be wrong. The congressional calendar and strategic inertia may come together to keep the defense budget relatively high. The calendar helps because the fiscal 2021 defense budget will likely be passed while Congress is in a free-spending mood. The next administration — Republican or Democratic — will develop budgets beyond that, but the constraints of long-standing strategy will prevent major changes to force structure and acquisition that would drive deep budget cuts. The Challenge The conventional narrative holds that the defense budget will be squeezed as the debt level rises, and the public focuses inward on rebuilding the country's health and economic position. These are reasonable concerns. The deficit in fiscal 2020, initially projected to be about one trillion dollars ― itself getting into record territory without emergency spending― is now projected to be $3.7 trillion, and Congress is not finished spending. Debt held by the public will rise to 101 percent of GDP, a level not seen since World War II. Even if the world is willing to take US debt, rising interest payments will squeeze the rest of the budget. Simultaneously, the electorate is likely to focus inward. The pandemic is already the leading popular concern, not surprisingly. The economic devastation caused by restrictions on normal commercial activities has produced the greatest downturn since the Great Depression. It would be reasonable to put these factors together and project a substantially reduced defense budget. However, the congressional calendar and the inertia of a long-held strategy will likely mitigate any downturn. The Calendar The calendar will help because Congress is likely to pass the 2021 appropriation this fall, when the government will still be operating under emergency conditions. Congress has already passed four bills for pandemic response and economic stimulus and is developing another in the multi-trillion range. There are a few voices for fiscal constraint, but they are overwhelmed by a sentiment to “do more.” Indeed, some lawmakers and commentators are proposing increases to the defense budget to stimulate the economy, enhance deterrence of China, or protect the defense industrial base. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has indicated his reluctance to do more than protect the industrial base, but a future stimulus bill could include such enhancements as part of a bipartisan deal. Finally, last year's bipartisan budget agreement set levels for defense and domestic spending in fiscal 2021. Undoing that agreement would be a major lift, requiring a bipartisan consensus that does not seem to be occurring. Even if the Democratic left wanted to make such cuts, defense hawks in the House and Senate could block them. Thus, in the near-term proposals for enhancements seem to be offsetting thoughts about cuts. As both the House and Senate consider their authorization acts, they seem to be aiming at roughly the level of the president's proposal and the bipartisan budget agreement. Strategic Inertia The United States has had some variation of the same national security strategy since the end of the Second World War (or perhaps more accurately, since the Korean War and publication of NSC 68, which enshrined a long term competition with the Soviet Union). That strategy involves global engagement, forward-deployed forces, alliances to offset global competitors, and commitment to maintaining an international system of free trade, human rights and secure borders. Scholars can argue about the details and how well the United States has implemented such a strategy, but the major elements have been constant. President Trump has chafed at many of these elements but has generally gone along, however reluctantly. One would expect such reluctant continuity in a second Trump administration, should that occur One would also expect strategic continuity in a Biden administration. Biden was, after all, vice president during the Obama administration, which, after the shocks of 2014, laid out a strategy of confronting five threats: Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and terrorism. One would expect Biden to implement something like that strategy if he were in office. That does not mean that a Biden administration would do everything a Trump administration would do. The left-wing of the Democratic party would push some level of cuts, perhaps 5 percent, and take aim particularly at nuclear modernization, foreign arms sales, and Middle East conflicts. But this longstanding strategy of global engagement will put a floor on defense cuts. Remaining engaged with NATO, supporting our Asian allies like Japan and South Korea, and maintaining some presence in the Middle East, even if scaled back, takes a lot of forces. These need to be at a relatively high level of readiness to deploy globally and be credible. The all-volunteer force needs to maintain compensation and benefits at a sufficient level to compete for labor in a market economy. Competing with China and Russia requires investment in a wide variety of high technology―and costly―new systems, as well as the R&D foundation to support these innovations. Other strategies are certainly possible. Members of the Democratic left and Republican right, as well as some elements of the academic and think tank community, have proposed strategies of “restraint”, whereby the United States would significantly scale back overseas engagements. Such strategic change would produce a substantial cut in the defense budget. However, neither major candidate has supported such a change, and the national security policy community (aka “the blob”) is adamantly opposed. Despite this relatively optimistic assessment, the future is still cloudy. The president's budget proposal forecasts a level budget in constant dollars. That meant that the defense buildup was over, even if Republicans continued in office. Such budgets do not come close to the 3 to 5 percent real growth that defense officials had talked about to implement the National Defense strategy and would entail choices between readiness, force structure and modernization. A Democratic administration, with a notional 5 percent cut in the defense budget, would not constitute the deep cut that a Sanders or Warren administration might have entailed, but the $35 billion that a 5 percent cut would entail is still a lot of money. Forces would get smaller, likely wiping out all the recent force expansion, and new programs would be delayed. Bottom line: Defense may not be heading into a budget hurricane, but it is not heading into sunlight either. It faces the friction that occurs when expensive plans collide with constrained resources. Mark Cancian, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, was a Marine colonel and senior official at the Office of Management and Budget before he joined CSIS. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/huge-deficit-defense-budget-cuts-maybe-not/

The Army wants to do a tech demonstration in the southwestern desert – COVID permitting – of how the new weapons systems it's developing can share data. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. WASHINGTON: As the Army urgently develops its 31 top-priority technologies for future war, service leaders are studying a proposal to field-test some of them together later this year, Army officials told me. The technology demonstration, known as Project Convergence, is still tentative, a spokesperson for the Army's Pentagon headquarters cautioned me. There's no guarantee it will even happen this year, in no small part because the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted field testing, wargames, and training exercises across the Army. If it does happen, it's far from settled which systems will be involved. Nevertheless, from what I've gleaned, Project Convergence will probably try to form a “sensor-to-shooter” network that shares data between systems being developed in at least three of the Army's Big Six modernization portfolios: Long-Range Precision Fires, the Army's No. 1 modernization priority, which aims to rebuild the artillery with new long-range cannons and surface-to-surface missiles to hit ground targets; The Army Network, priority No. 4, which will link Army units using everything from software-defined digital radios to new Low Earth Orbit satellites; and Air & Missile Defense, priority No. 5, which is developing its own specialized, high-speed network, IBCS, to relay targeting data on fast-flying threats with split-second accuracy. I've not heard specifically about systems from the Army's other three major modernization portfolios: armored vehicles (priority No. 2), high-speed aircraft (No. 3), and soldier gear (No. 6). But the Army envisions all of them as sharing intelligence over the network. “The Next Generation Ground Vehicle is an important sensor and observer for Long-Range Precision Fires,” said Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, the LRPF director at Army Futures Command. “Same with Future Vertical Lift, same with the Army's space strategy led by APNT, and the network enables all of this.” In fact, the Army ultimately wants to connect its units to the Air Force, Marines, Navy, and Space Force through a future network-of-networks called JADC2. That's short for Joint All-Domain Command & Control, a vision of seamlessly coordinating operations across the five official “domains”: land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. “We have to make sure that what we technically demonstrate later this year fits into a larger JADC2 architecture,” Rafferty told me in a recent interview. “I view this as kind of the ground portion of JADC2. How do we meet JADC2 in the middle? We're going to start from the ground up, they're going from space down.” “We have to have a capability to converge these different systems at the decisive place and time,” he said. “We have to have a network.” Many of the necessary network technologies are ones under consideration for what's called Capability Set 23, a package of network upgrades set to enter service in three years. The first round of upgrades, CS 21, goes to infantry units next year. But CS 23, focused on far-ranging armored formations, aims to add extensive new long-range communication capabilities using Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and Mid-Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. “Every two years we're developing a new set of kit that we deliver as part of those capability sets,” Col. Shane Taylor told last week's C4ISRnet online conference. “We've got Project Convergence that we're working with the Network CFT this fall out in the desert, and you're gonna see a lot of MEO work out there.” Taylor works for Program Executive Office (PEO) Command, Control, & Communications – Tactical (C3T), which is independent, by law, of Army Futures Command but works closely with it to develop and build the network. Satellites are essential to connect units that can't form direct radio links because of intervening mountains, buildings, or the horizon itself. But LEO and MEO are particularly valuable for communications, because they can relay signals with less lag and greater bandwidth than high-altitude satellites in Geosynchronous (GEO) orbits. “In some cases, it's almost having fiber optic cable through a space-based satellite link,” Army Futures Command's network director, Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, told me in a recent interview. That kind of network capacity is particularly crucial for connecting “sensors to shooters.” Sure, old-fashioned radio or more modern chat-style systems work okay for reporting where a unit is moving or what supplies are running low. But targeting data, especially for moving targets, requires much more precision and becomes out of date much more quickly. “It's the second oldest challenge for artillery,” Rafferty told me, ever since 19th century cannon began to shoot over the horizon at targets their gunners couldn't see. “The oldest challenge is shooting farther, the second challenge is the sensor to shooter part: How do you minimize the time between the observation of the target and the delivery of the effects?” For the longest-range new weapons the Army is developing, like ground-based hypersonic missiles and thousand-mile superguns, the sensor-to-shooter problem is even harder, because the Army doesn't have any sensors that can see that far. Nor does it intend to build them: The service's deputy chief of staff for intelligence, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, has said publicly the Army doesn't need its own reconnaissance satellites. So while the Army is buying new Grey Eagle -Extended Range scout drones with an estimated range of 200 miles, longer-range shots will rely on Space Force satellites and Air Force and Navy reconnaissance planes to spot targets. Another potential source of information for long-range offensive fires, Rafferty said, is the Army's air and missile defense force. While air and missile defense radars are designed to track flying targets, they can also often calculate where missiles and artillery shells are being fired from, and those enemy batteries are prime targets for the Army's own long-range weapons. It's also much easier to blow up an enemy launcher on the ground – ideally before it fires – rather than try to shoot down projectiles in flight, so, where possible, the best missile defense is a good offense. “I started to really think about this a few years ago when I did an exercise in Europe, called the Austere Challenge, when I was still a brigade commander,” Rafferty told me. “It was an eye-opening exercise for me because I'd never really operated at the theater level.... I started to see the importance of that teamwork between the theater-level [offensive] fires and the theater-level air defense systems.” Training and modernization for both offensive and defense fires are based out of Fort Sill, Okla. “We're lucky because the Air and Missile Defense Cross Functional Team is right downstairs,” Rafferty said. Rafferty's counterpart for air and missile defense is Brig. Gen. Brian Gibson. “It's about connections and access to the data,” Gibson told me in a recent interview. “Sharing the right data with the right user at the right time, along latency timelines that are useful... is really where the trick to this puzzle lies.” “The most important part,” Gibson said, “where most of the work has gone on, is to understand where the linkages need to occur” between the Army's general-purpose Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) – that's what CS 21 and CS 23 are building — and the specialized, high-performance network for air and missile defense, IBCS. As hard as it is to hit a moving target on the ground, it's exponentially more difficult to hit one in the air, especially a supersonic cruise missile or ballistic missile moving at many times the speed of sound. If your targeting data is a millisecond out of date, you may miss entirely. So, explained Gibson and his acquisition program partner, Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch (PEO Missiles & Space), you can't add anything to the IBCS network without making very sure it won't slow that data down. But IBCS can certainly output the data it's already collecting for other systems to use, including long-range precision fires. “They can be a consumer of IBCS,” Rasch told me. And since ground targets don't move as fast as missiles, he said, IBCS wouldn't have to send updates to offensive artillery batteries at the same frenetic pace that air and missile defense units require. “It doesn't have to be in milliseconds,” he said. “It can be in seconds.” Yes, seconds seem like a long time in missile defense, but to someone shooting at ground targets, that's lightning-quick. “We've got great opportunities to leverage IBCS,” Rafferty said. “The way I view it, that's another sensor, with very capable radars, and that integrated air defense network is reliable and fast.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/project-convergence-linking-army-missile-defense-offense-space

Although defense production has largely continued during the coronavirus pandemic, manufacturing plants have not escaped the reach of the disease. Facilities have been shut down for short periods of time or the number of workers has been reduced in order to ensure the safety of the workforce. The U.S. Defense Department anticipates a three-month slowdown for most of its development and procurement programs. Here is a look at some of the specific factory closures and slowdowns that have occurred since the spread of COVID-19 began. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/how-covid-19-has-affected-defense-production

By: Bill Brown, L3Harris Technologies The Department of Defense and defense industry have a long history of responding quickly and forcefully to crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Today, hundreds of thousands of dedicated defense workers remain at their posts – delivering mission-critical products and services to support our troops around the world, while also providing personal protective equipment and other supplies to first responders and health care workers here at home. However, this most recent crisis has re-exposed weaknesses in our defense industrial base – highlighting the need to significantly bolster the nation's vital supply chain. This serves as a call to action to develop a strategic, long-term approach across government and industry. We witnessed the fallout from the 2008-09 financial crisis. Thousands of suppliers shuttered or permanently shifted precious capacity to other verticals when defense budgets were indiscriminately cut following the Budget Control Act of 2011 and sequester of 2013. When budgets began to recover several years later, the damage was clear – longer lead times that in some cases doubled or more, and increased reliance on single-source and international suppliers for critical components, such as microelectronics. In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order and established a multi-agency task force to study supply chain resiliency. The task force identified five macro forces that create risk to the supply chain and national security preparedness including sequestration and the uncertainty of government spending, the overall decline of U.S. manufacturing capabilities and capacity, harmful government business and procurement practices, industrial policies of competitor nations, and diminishing U.S. STEM and trade skills. Task force members proposed a comprehensive set of risk-reduction actions – ranging from establishing sustained and predictable multi-year budgets and developing an adaptive acquisition framework, to directing investment to small businesses and diversifying the supplier base. Over the past two years, the government has made initial strides on a number of these fronts, including working to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign sources for critical rare earth minerals and decreasing the country's dependence on China and other international suppliers for semiconductors and related components. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged before these and other task force initiatives gained serious traction and forced the DoD to refocus its near-term priorities. And the urgency escalated when we began to see the brutal impact the pandemic was causing in the commercial aerospace sector, an important vertical market for many defense suppliers. The department quickly designated defense suppliers as essential and increased progress payments, spurring larger defense contractors to accelerate payments to thousands of small business suppliers. These actions helped companies to continue operating, maintain their employment and hiring goals, and sustain critical spending on internal research and development (IRAD) to keep the innovation engine humming. At L3Harris, for example, we recommitted to investing nearly 4 percent of revenues in IRAD, hiring 6,000 new employees and maintaining our apprenticeship and internship programs to provide opportunities for the workforce of the future. The combined DoD and industry efforts demonstrate the power of a focused, collaborative approach to mitigate and address the damaging effects of the pandemic and to support the broader defense industrial base. Today, we are at a critical juncture. We have an opportunity to make the necessary strategic investments that could significantly strengthen our supply base for generations to come, including: · Ensure sustained/predictable budgets – stable, long-term funding helps companies better plan and encourages them to invest in staffing, technology and facilities needed for the country to maintain its technical superiority. Now is not the time to pull back the reins on defense spending. · Accelerate contract awards – shorter decision and acquisition cycles enable suppliers to invest in and deliver technologies faster than with traditional methods, and in the near term could help offset the impact of the commercial aerospace downturn. · Expand domestic supplier base – increasing domestic capabilities reduces vulnerabilities and increases access to critical components, such as rare earths and microelectronics, and over time can help reduce the proportion of sole/single-source supply. · Increase workforce investment – providing advanced STEM education opportunities drives innovation and productivity by enhancing critical skillsets for existing employees, while attracting, training and growing the workforce of the future. · Institutionalize process improvements – the COVID-19 pandemic forced government and industry to find new and more efficient ways to work. The challenge now – to make these advances permanent. These are not quick fixes. However, they provide a strong platform for a more resilient national defense supplier base, which is vital at a time when near-peer adversaries continue to invest heavily in new technologies that threaten our nation's security. The imperative is clear – and the opportunity is now. Bill Brown is chairman and CEO at L3Harris Technologies. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/05/18/our-nations-defense-supply-chain-imperative/

AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Redondo Beach, California, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $2,375,000,000 undefinitized contract modification (P00013) to contract FA8810-18-C-0006 for Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Polar Space Vehicles 1 and 2. This modification adds Phase One for design/development, critical path flight hardware procurement, and risk reduction efforts leading to a critical design review to the basic contract. Work will be performed in Redondo Beach, California, and is expected to be completed by December 2025. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $70,500,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $2,419,295,532. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, has been awarded a ceiling $485,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Department of Defense and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Sniper, Infrared Search and Track (IRST); and Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) navigation pod (fixed wing) hardware production. This contract provides the necessary resources required for the management, fabrication, upgrade/retrofit, integration support and testing and shipping of its non-developmental item (NDI) Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP) System, NDI LANTIRN Fixed Image Navigation Set upgrades, and the NDI IRST system as it relates to the requirements document associated with each specific delivery order placed under this contract. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and various locations to be identified at the order level. The work is expected to be completed by May 2025. This contract involves FMS to (this list is not all inclusive): Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. FMS funds in the amount of $34,900,000 are being obligated at the time of award under delivery order FA8540-20-F-0034 for the country of Morocco. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8540‐20‐D‐0001). Canadian Commercial Corp., Ottawa, Canada, has been awarded a $44,473,960 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the installation of the Block Upgrade 7.0/8.1 kits into C-130J cargo aircraft. This contract provides for installation of government provided BU 7.0/8.1 kits into designated C-130J aircraft. Work will be performed in British Columbia, Canada, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 5, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $4,690,950 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8625-20-D-2016). The Corporation of Mercer University, Warner Robins, Georgia, has been awarded a $9,039,309 task order (FA8523-20-F-0029) on basic contract FA8523-20-D-0001 to provide Laboratory Intelligence Validated Emulators (LIVE)-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) closed loop engineering test and evaluation of newly developed electronic warfare (EW) systems. This order provides integration of gold-standard intelligence community threat definitions into the Electronic Warfare and Avionics Integrated Support Facility, where LVC closed loop operational test – vertical testability demonstration simulations and testing will be conducted to inform the baseline capability and to identify growth areas for improving operational survivability, reliability and mission success of fielded EW systems in support of airborne U.S. warfighting elements. Work will be performed in Warner Robins, Georgia, and is expected to be completed by May 13, 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,140,106 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity. JOINT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a five-year, $800,000,000 task order contract (47QFCA20F0032) to deliver the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) artificial intelligence (AI) enabled products to support warfighting operations and be instrumental in embedding AI decision-making and analysis at all tiers of Department of Defense (DOD) operations. This is a General Services Administration (GSA) Alliant 2 government-wide acquisition contract for AI products that will leverage the power of DOD data to enable a transformational shift across the DOD that will give the U.S. a definitive information advantage to prepare for future warfare operations. Specific tasks of this order will encompass a wide mix of technical services and products across the full spectrum of technical support to the JAIC Joint Warfighter National Mission Initiative. This will include data labeling, data management, data conditioning, AI product development, and the transition of AI products into new and existing fielded programs and systems across the DOD. The task order contract award has a base period through May 2021 with option years that run through May 2025. GSA Federal Systems Integration and Management Center, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ARMY Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $497,301,405 modification (P00035) to contract W31P4Q-17-D-0026 for Phased Array Tracking on Radar to Intercept Advanced Capability-3 missile support center post-production support. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 18, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Central Environmental Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded a $26,990,428 firm-fixed-price contract to relocate an existing road. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Porterville, California, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2021. Fiscal 2018 civil construction funds in the amount of $26,990,428 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento, California, is the contracting activity (W91238-20-C-0009). Dignitas Technologies LLC,* Orlando, Florida, was awarded an $8,723,110 firm-fixed-price contract to provide technical and management support for the Program Executive Office for simulation, training and instrumentation and provide access to Army Mission Command information systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2025. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 other procurement (Army); 2020 research, development, test, and evaluation (Army); and 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $1,615,202 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-C-0024). DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Clear Resolution Consulting, Baltimore, Maryland (HHM402-20-D-0018); NextGen Federal Systems, Morgantown, West Virginia (HHM402-20-D-0019); S2 Technologies, Smithfield, North Carolina (HHM402-20-D-0020); LBO Technology LLC, Leesburg, Virginia (HHM402-20-D-0016); Lock4 LLC, Red Springs, North Carolina (HHM402-20-D-0017); Parra Consulting Group, Middletown, Maryland (HHM402-20-D-0014); and SHINE Systems, Charlottesville, Virginia (HHM402-20-D-0021), have been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling of $99,500,000 for facility management, logistics, administrative, readiness, executive and security support services to support the National Media Exploitation Center. Task orders will be competed among all awardees. The contract has a base period of performance from May 29, 2020 to May 28, 2025, with an optional ordering period from May 28, 2025 to May 27, 2030. All task orders must be completed no later than one year after the end of the ordering period. Work will be performed in the National Capital Region; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,000 are being obligated on task order after award. This contract has been awarded through a HUBZone set-aside competitive acquisition and sixteen offers were received. The Virginia Contracting Activity, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Metrex Research LLC, doing business as Orascoptic, Madison, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $45,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hospital equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 115 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a May 17, 2025, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-20-D-0040). CORRECTION: The contract announced on May 8, 2020, for S&L Aerospace Metals LLC,* Flushing, New York (SPRRA1-20-D-0043), for $24,386,400, was announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is May 15, 2020. MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is being awarded a $22,300,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00365) under Aegis Combat Weapon System development contract HQ0276-10-C-0001, which covers multiple Aegis Weapon System baselines and platforms. This modification increases the total cumulative contract value by $22,300,000, from $3,211,352,549 to $3,233,652,549; $64,900,000 of which was obligated for Aegis Ashore Japan (under Contract Line Item Number 0135). Under this modification, the contractor will continue performing engineering design support services necessary for continuation of planning efforts and risk reduction efforts required to maintain initial operational capability schedule to support the Aegis Ashore Japan Foreign Military Sales main case. The work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, with an expected completion date of July 31, 2020. Funds from the government of Japan in the amount of $22,300,000 are being obligated at the time of award. This contract modification is the result of a sole-source acquisition. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity. WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES Chenega Healthcare Services LLC, San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with an overall ceiling of $10,000,000. This contract provides COVID-19 contact tracing for the Pentagon support services. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $508,000 are being obligated at the time of the award. The expected completion date is May 17, 2025. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-20-D-0008). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2190758/source/GovDelivery/

By: Ashok Sharma, The Associated Press NEW DELHI — India announced Saturday that global companies can now invest up to 74 percent in the country's defense manufacturing units, up from 49 percent, without requiring any government approval. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed hope that the new policy will attract foreign companies with high-end technologies to set up their manufacturing bases in India in collaboration with Indian companies. Sitharaman's announcement came as part of reforms Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is implementing to revive India's economy, which has been shattered by the coronavirus pandemic. She also told reporters that India will stop importing weapons that can be made in the country. “We will notify a list of weapons and platforms for ban on their imports and fix deadlines to do it,” she said, adding that this will improve self-reliance on defense manufacturing. India introduced up to 49 percent foreign direct investment in defense production in 2016 to attract modern technology in the country. That attracted more than 18.34 billion rupees (U.S. $244 million) until December last year, according to a government statement. India issues defense-industrial licenses for making tanks, military aircraft, spacecraft and their parts, UAVs, missiles for military purposes, and warships. India, a major buyer of military equipment, depended largely on the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. But it has been diversifying its purchases by opting for U.S. equipment as well. During U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to India in February, the two countries signed a deal for India to buy from the U.S. more than $3 billion in advanced military equipment, including helicopters. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2020/05/18/india-ups-foreign-investment-but-will-stop-importing-weapons-that-can-be-made-locally