Nouvelles

LE BREXIT ET LES ENTREPRISES Londres veut continuer à assumer un rôle majeur dans la sécurité européenne, mais le pays sort de l'Union au moment où celle-ci s'engage davantage pour assurer la sécurité des Etats membres. Ce qui soulève de nombreuses questions. Anne Bauer @annebauerbrux Les Britanniques ne cessent de le répéter : leur départ de l'Union européenne ne remet pas en cause leur volonté de continuer à jouer un rôle de premier plan dans la défense de l'Europe. Ainsi la Grande-Bretagne participe, depuis le premier jour, à l'Initiative européenne d'intervention (IEI), le club des Etats-Majors européens lancé par le président Emmanuel Macron. Elle est, avec la France, le principal appui des Américains dans la coalition internationale au Levant et au Sahel, elle soutient les forces françaises par la mise à disposition de trois hélicoptères Chinook. En termes de coopération militaire, les Britanniques sont à bord de l'avion de chasse européen, Eurofighter, de l'avion de transport militaire A400M, de la constellation Galileo et de divers programmes de missiles, notamment via la firme européenne MBDA. Et en novembre prochain, la France et la Grande-Bretagne, les deux seules armées du continent européen dotées de l'arme nucléaire, devraient fêter les dix ans du traité bilatéral de Lancaster House et lancer, à l'occasion, un projet clé : le démonstrateur d'un nouveau missile de croisière franco-britannique . Pas de risque à court terme Chez le missilier européen MBDA, on insiste d'ailleurs sur « la force et la pérennité de la relation franco-britannique en matière de défense et de sécurité, initiée en 1998 à Saint-Malo et formalisée en 2010 par le traité de Lancaster House ». Et de rappeler que cette relation bilatérale est au coeur même du projet de l'entreprise , qui est de b'tir un champion mondial des missiles, en partageant l'effort industriel au travers de programmes en coopération européenne. De fait, du côté des industriels de la défense, le Brexit inquiète peu à court terme. Les biens de défense sont exonérés des règles générales de l'OMC sur les droits de douane. Et le commerce des armes est un sujet à part, régi par des conventions particulières. Dans l'aéronautique en outre, chacun est désormais certain que Londres restera membre de l'Agence européenne de sécurité aérienne, qui édicte les normes et veille à leur application. Interrogé par « Les Echos », le patron d'Airbus, Guillaume Faury, déclarait en septembre dernier que « les craintes relatives à la perte des certifications aéronautiques de production et de conception pour les pièces produites au Royaume-Uni, ainsi que pour la libre circulation de nos employés, ont été écartées, à force de travail en interne et avec les gouvernements. » Fonds européen de défense : in or out ? Toutefois, le Brexit intervient au moment même où l'UE engage une dynamique nouvelle en matière de défense. Pour la première fois, le budget européen pourra servir à subventionner la recherche et le développement de programmes d'armement. Or de facto, les Anglais sont déjà hors jeu. Dans l'anticipation du Brexit, ils ne participent pas à la nouvelle politique de « coopération structurée permanente », qui a donné naissance à une quarantaine de projets de coopération dans la défense entre divers pays européens. Et, faute de répondant côté anglais, Paris s'est tourné vers Berlin pour envisager le futur de deux équipements clé de défense : l'avion de combat du futur et le char de nouvelle génération. Les Britanniques ne font pas non plus partie du futur Fonds européen de défense, qui doit aider au financement de ses projets. Enfin, ils quittent les instances dirigeantes de l'Agence européenne de défense. Au sein des industriels du secteur, nombre d'opérateurs souhaitent le retour de la Grande-Bretagne dans les instances européennes. Terrain d'entente Car personne n'a intérêt à maintenir des tensions, comme celles nées de l'exclusion de Londres du réseau protégé de communication gouvernementale, de la constellation Galileo. Dans l'aéronautique, chacun espère que le futur avion de combat franco-allemand, le SCAF, et son concurrent britannique, le projet Tempest mené avec les Italiens et les Suèdois, se rejoindront un jour. « C'est dans l'intérêt des Britanniques comme dans celui des Européens, qu'un terrain d'entente soit trouvé dans les futurs traités d'association qui seront négociés cette année », commente le président de MBDA, Eric Béranger. « Le Royaume-Uni devrait pouvoir bénéficier d'un statut particulier qui permettra de poursuivre les nombreuses coopérations qu'il a en Europe, dans les missiles bien évidemment, mais aussi dans l'aviation militaire ou le spatial de défense », ajoute-t-il. Mais avec un groupe principal de défense BAE Systems, qui est déjà un important fournisseur de l'armée américaine, la tentation britannique peut être de regarder davantage outre-Atlantique qu'outre Manche. https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/air-defense/brexit-londres-promet-de-continuer-a-jouer-un-role-majeur-dans-la-defense-europeenne-1168197

By: Jill Aitoro SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Dual-use technology — that is, tech that can be adapted from the commercial market to serve the needs of the military — is core to the U.S. Department of Defense's innovation strategy. But those willing to put money toward big ideas argue it's the wrong approach. “In terms of how to build a startup and how to scale really fast, you can't have two missions,” said Katherine Boyle, an investor with venture capital firm General Catalyst, during a Defense News roundtable in California. “You can't be a 10-person startup saying: ‘OK, we're going to sell to the DoD, but we're also going to sell to these commercial customers, and it's just going to work out magically.'" For the second year in a row, Defense News hosted the roundtable to dig into Pentagon's efforts to engage with the commercial tech community — this year digging into the challenges and opportunities that come with investment in defense development. To the Pentagon, dual-use technology offers an attractive means of drawing new players into the military fold, while also leveraging the more rapid development that happens on the commercial side. But the model is evolving, said Mike Madsen, director of strategic engagement with the government's Silicon Valley outreach hub Defense Innovation Unit. With DoD, “it takes two years to get to a ‘yes,' when a lot of companies need a ‘no' in 30 days because they don't have the capital,” he said. “So we flipped it. Now we start with the DoD problem set and take it out to industry. And we've lowered a lot of the barriers to entry — we negotiate [intellectual property] for each contract, we negotiate auditability, we move quickly. We look to award prototype contracts in 60 to 90 days.” The approach also attempts to rebalance the gradual shift in research and development investments in the last couple of decades. As noted by Tom Foldesi, DIU's commercial engagement director, one-third of worldwide R&D was tied to the Department of Defense in the 1960s. That percentage has since tanked to 3.7 percent. A separate business line allows R&D to continue to iterate to the next generation of technology so the DoD can “go back to the cookie jar” and tap into the technology to solve future problems, Foldesi said. But to Trey Stephens, a partner at venture capital firm Founders Fund and a co-founder and executive chairman of Anduril Industries, the model ensures the large, traditional defense contractors continue to dominate as the small businesses only “dabble in defense.” It also means the DoD won't bear sole responsibility for the economic growth of these small tech startups. “Where I'm not on board is where a traditional defense company is being asked by the government to integrate dual-use capabilities as a way to prevent that oligopoly from being shaken,” he said. “We have to break this oligopoly. We can only do it if we find companies that are willing to own their responsibility for execution on programs.” To be clear, Stephens acknowledged cases where commercial technology companies can be primes. Lawsuit aside, he's “on board” with awarding the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract to a commercial business — Microsoft — “because the capability is similar enough.” Microsoft was awarded the Pentagon's JEDI cloud contract, but Amazon Web Services has asked a federal court to block the department and the company from beginning work on the project, according to a Jan. 13 court filing. In terms of new capabilities, Stephens advocates for turning the model on its ear: Enable startups to first development a solution to a problem faced within the DoD, then turn that around and sell it to commercial industries. “The commercial industry is oftentimes looking to the government for aspirational solutions to some of its hardest problems, whereas the inverse doesn't really work,” he said. General Catalyst, which counts The Honest Company, Snapchat and Airbnb among its portfolio of companies, has invested in two pure-play defense companies: Anduril, and Palo Alto machine-learning company Vannevar Labs. The latter is developing a product that would bring natural language-processing technologies to support counterterrorism missions. “We actually think this is a better model,” Boyle said. “If you're scaling rapidly, you have to be very focused on your customer set. And if you're going to have to sacrifice a customer, even if you're a multibillion-dollar company, you're going to sacrifice the one who's moving the slowest. And that's usually the government.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/smr/cultural-clash/2020/01/30/silicon-valley-investors-to-dod-dual-use-tech-is-a-bad-strategy/

By: Jill Aitoro SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Private investors are not yet lining up to back defense startups, but they are paying close attention. Two factors have created an opening that could lure venture capitalists to defense investments: first, a few select venture-backed technology startups are gaining traction; and second, there's been a strategic shift in approach to weapons development from the U.S. Department of Defense, focusing more on information warfare and, as such, software. In the words of Mike Madsen, director of strategic engagement at the Pentagon's commercial tech hub, Defense Innovation Unit: "We're at a significant inflection point right now that will be visible through the lens of history.” Nonetheless, for the tech startups, it's been slow going, as discussed during a Defense News roundtable in California. For the second year, leadership from DoD and the tech community came together to discuss the state of the Pentagon's efforts to attract commercial startups — this time digging into the challenges and opportunities that come with investment in defense development. “We went into this eyes wide open, knowing full well that to the venture community, the math doesn't make sense. Making the choice to contribute to the advancement of artificial intelligence for DoD represented for us more of a mission-driven objective,” said Ryan Tseng, founder of artificial intelligence startup Shield AI. But early on, “we were fortunate to get the backing of Andreessen Horowitz, a top-tier venture fund. They're certainly leaning in, in terms of their thinking about defense technology — believing that despite the history, there might be a way to find an opening to create companies that can become economically sustainable and make substantial mission impact.” Shield AI has raised $50 million in venture funding since 2015, with more rounds expected. Indeed, a few key Silicon Valley investors have emerged as the exceptions to the rule, putting dollars toward defense startups. In addition to Andreessen Horowitz, which counts both Shield AI and defense tech darling Anduril in its portfolio, there's General Catalyst, which also invested in Anduril, as well as AI startup Vannevar Labs. And then of course there's Founders Fund. Led by famed Silicon investors Peter Thiel, Ken Howery and Brian Singerman, among others, the venture firm was an early investor in Anduril, as well as mobile mesh networking platform goTenna. Founders Fund placed big bets on Palantir Technologies and SpaceX in the early days, which paid off in a big way. Some of the early successes of these startups have “done an excellent job of making investors greedy,” said Katherine Boyle, an investor with General Catalyst. “There's a growing group who are interested in this sector right now, and they've looked at the success of these companies and [are] saying: ‘OK, let's learn about it.' ” Take Anduril: The defense tech startup — co-founded by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens — has raised more than $200 million and hit so-called unicorn status in 2019, reaching a valuation of more than $1 billion. As the successes piled up, so did the venture capital funding. According to Fortune magazine, those investors included Founders Fund, 8VC, General Catalyst, XYZ Ventures, Spark Capital, Rise of the Rest, Andreessen Horowitz, and SV Angel. “I started my career at Allen & Company investment banking. Herbert Allen, who's in his 80s, always said: ‘Hey, you should run into an industry where people are running away,' ” said John Tenet, a partner with 8VC as well as a co-founder and vice chairman of defense startup Epirus. “There's so much innovation occurring, where the government can be the best and biggest customer. And there are people who really want to solve hard problems. It's just figuring out where the synergies lie, what the ‘one plus one equals three' scenario will be.” Also attracting the attention of Silicon Valley investors is the growing emphasis by the Pentagon not only on systems over platforms, but software over hardware. Boyle described the shift as the “macro tailwind” that often drives innovation in a sector. Similar revolutions happened in industrials and automotive markets — both of which are also massive, global and slow-moving. That emphasis on tech, combined with some recent hard lessons, also provides a glimmer of hope that the typical hurdles associated with defense investments — lengthy procurement cycles and dominance by traditional manufacturers, for example — could be overcome. Consider U.S. Code 2377, which requires that commercially available items be considered first in procurement efforts, said Anduril's Stephens. He also noted court decisions in lawsuits filed by SpaceX and Palantir, which ultimately validated claims that defense agencies had not properly ensured a level playing field for major competitions. “These types of things are now at least in recent memory for Congress, and so they have some awareness of the issues that are being faced,” Stephens said. “It's much easier now to walk into a congressional office and say, ‘Here's the problem that we're facing' or ‘Here's the policy changes that we would need.' There are also enough bodies like DIU, like In-Q-Tel, like AFWERX, like the Defense Innovation Board, like the [Defense Science Board] — places where you can go to express the need for change. And oftentimes you do see that language coming into the [National Defense Authorization Act]. It's part of a longer-term cultural battle for sure.” For now, all these factors contribute to the majority of skeptical investors' decisions to watch the investments with interest — even if they still take a wait-and-see approach. And that places a lot of pressure on the companies that are, in a sense, the proof of concept for a new portfolio segment. “My fear is that if this generation of companies doesn't figure [it] out, if they don't knock down the doors and if there aren't a few successes, we're going to have 20, 30 years of just no investor looking around the table and saying we need to work for the Department of Defense,” Boyle said. “If there aren't some success stories coming out of this generation of companies, it's going to be very hard to look our partners in the eye and say: ‘We should keep investing in defense because look at how well things have turned out.'” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/cultural-clash/2020/01/30/as-tech-startups-catch-dods-eye-big-investors-are-watching/

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — In American's technology marketplace, venture capital funds are crucial for pumping capital into small companies in need of cash infusions to keep operating. Part of the venture capital model is acknowledging that many of those businesses will fail, but if a few are successful, venture capitalists can make huge returns on their investments. At a time when the Pentagon is working hard to entice small technology companies to work on defense projects, venture capital, or VC, funding could further mature technology and give entrepreneurs a chance to keep projects going. And yet, investors seem wary of putting forth cash to support companies with a defense focus. Why? In the wake of the very public fight inside Google over working with the Pentagon — which ended with the company pulling the plug on its Project Maven participation — there was a consensus from the defense establishment that there may be a culture gap that is simply too large to overcome. But according to a trio of venture capitalists who spoke to Defense News in December, the reasons are simpler. Katherine Boyle, with VC firm General Catalyst, said the culture issue is overblown for the VC community. The reluctance to work on defense programs comes down to a mix of “math and history," she said. "The math is the reason why investors are hesitant to put a third of their fund into these types of technologies because history shows us that they haven't worked out well,” Boyle explained. She said the math can be broken down into three factors: mergers, margins and interest rates. On the first, she pointed to the fact that the defense sector has seen thousands of firms exit the market, sometimes because of acquisitions by primes. But, she argued, where mergers and acquisitions tend to occur in other parts of the world to acquire new technology or capability, in the defense realm it's all about contracting value. That makes it “very difficult for new technologies to enter the market and ultimately be acquired at the valuations that venture investors would need to see in order to have a return for their fund.” In terms of margins, Boyle pointed out that defense firms are very focused on hardware, which requires a lot of investment upfront. That makes it “very difficult to invest in for venture capital firms because software has 80 percent margins, and it's much easier to build a company that can scale very quickly if it's software-based versus needing a lot of capital,” she said. The third factor, interest rates, ties into the last two. For decades interest rates have allowed VC firms to expand dramatically — something that requires a constant flow of return from investments in order to turn around funds and quickly invest in another opportunity. In the world of defense, investors with $3 billion to $5 billion under management by the VC community will find it difficult to get the kind of returns investors are accustomed to from other markets. All three of those factors come together in a mix that means there are very few chances for VC firms to invest in defense-related companies that match up with what a VC traditionally wants to see, said John Tenet, a partner with investment firm 8VC and vice chairman of the defense company Epirus. “VC investors invest based on speed and scale and probability of a 10 to 20 times return. And so I think that's where you've seen a little bit of apprehension, at least in [Silicon] Valley,” Tenet said. “The exits haven't been that fast, and you sort of have these five big players on one side [that] sort of monopolize the market.” From a pure numbers standpoint, a good benchmark for performance is to look at the S&P 500, according to Trae Stephens, co-founder and chairman of Anduril Industries and partner at Founders Fund. Over a 10-year period, an investor in the S&P can expect to get roughly 3 times their investment back. VC firms want to be able to beat that for an investment to be worth it. To highlight the challenge of attracting VC funding to defense firms with potentially limited return, Stephens pointed to the case of Blackbird Technologies. A venture-backed player in specialized communications tech aimed at the defense market, Blackbird was bought in 2014 by Raytheon for about $420 million. That looks good on paper, but the reality is the churn isn't strong enough for a big, Silicon Valley-based venture capital group. “A lot of times in the government, people say: ‘Oh, Blackbird is this, like, great example of a success story that was like a boost for venture.' It's actually not. It's not a venture scale of return for most funds,” he said. “There are some funds where the economics of [an exit that size] is really good, but for large, Silicon Valley tier-one funds, it doesn't move the needle. And so you have to have these multibillion-dollar opportunities in order for it to really make economic sense.” Another issue raised by Stephens will be familiar to defense primes as well: concerns over sharing intellectual property with the Defense Department. The department is essentially saying “you are the right product for us, now turn over your source code,” Stephens said. “It's crazy. We're literally doing to our companies in America what we're criticizing the Chinese for doing to their companies and to our companies when we enter that market. And so there has to be a better commercial practice for enabling companies to retain their IP and do business with the government without having to fight a legal battle every time they go through a contract.” ‘Knock down the doors' Despite those concerns, all three venture capitalists that spoke to Defense News are involved in investments in defense-focused firms. So why are they spending their money in the sector? Mission is part of it — the belief that, as Americans, a stronger Defense Department benefits their firms. But that only goes so far if dollars don't follow. Once again, it comes down to math. Investing in a company focused on defense technologies, which may have to wait years to secure a contract with the Pentagon, isn't a great strategy for a VC firm looking for quick returns. But if a company is able to get government funding early on, the business suddenly becomes more worthy of investment, said Boyle. “If the government is allocating capital in the right way, it will get VC dollars immediately. Like, it will follow so quickly,” Boyle said. “I see so many people come in to our office and they have an OTA [other transaction authority contract], and they're excited. It's a small, $1 million contract, and that is great for a seed company. But if that same company came in 18 months later and said, ‘Oh, by the way, the OTA has turned into a $10 million contract,' that would meet every milestone that I usually see to series A.” (An OTA is a type of contract that enables rapid prototyping; series A financing is the investment that follows growth from initial seed capital used to launch operations.) “$10 million to the US government is nothing, but to [a] startup — $10 million is the best startup I've seen all year, if they're an 18-month-old startup and they're getting that kind of capital early on,” she said. Added Stephens: “It means they're doing something right.” That creates a chicken and egg scenario: Venture capitalists only want to invest in companies that already have a Pentagon contract, but small firms often can't keep the doors open long enough without external funding while waiting for the department's contracting processes to progress. While groups such as the Defense Innovation Unit — the Pentagon's technology hub — are helping speed along that process, it remains a problem with no easy solution, at a time when the Pentagon needs the nondefense technology community in ways it hasn't for decades. Boyle believes there is a “growing group” of investors who see the strong success of a handful of companies like goTenna, Anduril or Shield AI that have managed to break through and become successful defense-focused investment vehicles. That means the next few years are going to be critical for everyone involved. “None of us would be here if we weren't optimistic,” she said. “I actually think this is an incredible time to be investing in deep tech, particularly deep-tech companies that are selling to the Department of Defense because if it doesn't happen now, it never will.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/cultural-clash/2020/01/30/the-math-doesnt-make-sense-why-venture-capital-firms-are-wary-of-defense-focused-investments/

ARMY General Dynamics Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida, was awarded an $883,000,000 order-dependent contract for the enhancement and maintenance of the Live Training Transformation (LT2) product line, including software architecture, LT2 framework, and individual products associated with the LT2 product line. 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 Jan. 31, 2028. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-D-0007). PAE Professional Services, LLC, Falls Church, Virginia, was awarded a $90,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide temporary construction security infrastructure, equipment, services and security surveillance services to support secure construction projects to support the Yongsan Relocation Program in the Far East District, South Korea. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 29, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District, South Korea, is the contracting activity (W912UM-20-D-0002). Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, was awarded a $77,064,274 Foreign Military Sales (Bahrain, Republic of Korea, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates) contract for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target, Advanced Capability-3. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $77,064,274 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-F-0003). Aerojet Rocketdyne, Camden, Arkansas, was awarded a $76,874,368 modification (P00005) to contract W31P4Q-18-D-0027 for procurement of Stinger flight motors. 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 Sept. 30, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Trade West Construction,** Mesquite, Nevada, was awarded a $52,672,800 firm-fixed-price contract to deepen the upstream approach to the locks in the north canal at the Soo Locks complex in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2019 civil construction and State of Michigan contributed funds in the amount of $52,672,800 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W911XK-20-C-0002). Schutt Industries Inc.,** Clintonville, Wisconsin, was awarded a $51,492,774 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of four models of a 2.5-ton single-axle chassis trailer. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 28, 2027. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0023). Hensel Phelps Construction Co, Tysons Corner, Virginia, was awarded a $34,227,105 firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of a new warehouse facility of approximately 44,000 gross square foot with associated office space. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work will be performed at Fort Meade, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of July 8, 2022. Fiscal 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 military construction, Army funds in the amount of $34,227,105 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W912DR-20-C-0004). Applied Visual Technology Inc.,** Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $31,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to design, develop, integrate, manage, deliver, install, test, document and support construction equipment virtual trainers. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 29, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-D-0008). General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $29,886,655 modification (P00096) to contract W56HZV-17-C-0067 for Abrams Systems technical support. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 29, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 procurement of weapons and tracked combat vehicles, Army; operations and maintenance, Army; and Kuwait Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $29,886,655 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $26,321,249 firm-fixed-price contract for information technology services to support the mission of the 2nd Theater Signal Brigade/U.S. Army Europe. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in APO AE, Germany, and APO AE, Italy, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $26,321,249 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is the contracting activity (W91RUS-17-C-0010). Marton Technologies Inc.,** Newport News, Virginia, was awarded a $9,090,390 modification (000191) to contract W52P1J-14-G-0021 for continued performance of logistics support services at Fort Riley, Kansas. Work will be performed in Fort Riley with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2121. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,090,390 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. SGS LLC, Yukon, Oklahoma, was awarded an $8,996,222 contract to design and construct a single story, 13,838 square foot blood donor center at Fort Bliss, Texas. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed at Fort Bliss, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 2, 2021. Fiscal 2016 military construction, Army funds in the amount of $8,996,222 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-20-C-0009). AIR FORCE Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., Lod, Israel, has been awarded a $240,000,000 estimated ceiling indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the acquisition of T-38 Wings. Work will be performed in Lod, Israel, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 2033. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2020 consolidated sustainment activity group working capital funds in the amount of $34,426,532 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8208-20-D-0001). Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Georgia, has been awarded a delivery order in the amount of $127,430,000 firm-fixed‐price contract for the acquisition of two C-37B aircraft. Work will be performed in Savannah, Georgia, and is expected to deliver by September 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 procurement funds in the amount of $127,430,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The cumulative face value of the contract order is $127,430,000. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8134‐20-F‐3100). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded an $84,108,947 contract modification (P00007) to the previously awarded contract FA8634-18-C-2698 for the F-15 Advanced Display Core Processor (ADCP) II Low-Rate Initial Production 4. This contract modification exercises an option that provides the production and integration of the ADCP II boxes and related equipment into the F-15 platform. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by July 22, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 procurement and working capital funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $260,932,155. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 procurement funds in the amount of $74,346,630; and fiscal 2020 working capital funds in the amount of $9,762,318 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Fighter/Bomber Directorate, F-15 Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Global Connections to Employment Inc., Pensacola, Florida, has been awarded a $28,683,615 firm-fixed-price contract for custodial services. The contractor will provide non-personal services for continued operational support. Work will be performed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to complete by Jan. 31, 2027. This award is to a mandatory source under the AbilityOne program (41 U.S. Code 85 and 41 Code of Federal Regulations 51). Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,657,808 will be obligated under multiple task orders at the time of award. The 6th Contracting Squadron, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA4814-20-D-0003). Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $19,999,836 modification to previously awarded contract FA8750-18-C-0116 for Operational Resilient Cyber Advancements. The contract modification allows the performer to design and develop Microservice Architectures for defensive cyber operations technology in addition to utilizing a cloud-based orchestration engine to automate processes and develop Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technology thrusts. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 5, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,528,884 are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $67,435,795. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity. NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded an $81,645,285 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-6259) to exercise and fund options for naval production, engineering services and required materials for the government of Canada under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (65%); Clearwater, Florida (32%); Syracuse, New York (2%); and Marion, Florida (1%), and is expected to be completed by June 2026. FMS (Canada) funding for $79,584,238 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Linthicum, Maryland, is awarded a $45,479,156 modification for the firm-fixed-price portion of a previously awarded contract (M67854-19-C-0043). This modification is for the purchase of two Gallium Nitride full rate production systems and spares in support of Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Quantico, Virginia. Work will be performed in Linthicum, Maryland, and is expected to be complete by April 4, 2023. Fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $45,479,156 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract modification was not competitively procured. The base contract was prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 and 10 U.S. Code § 2304(c)(1). The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Jacobs Ewingcole JV, Pasadena, California, is awarded a firm-fixed-price task order N62473-20-F-4247 at $21,627,696 under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for design-bid-build construction packages at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, California. The work to be performed provides for preparation of design-bid-build construction packages consisting of full plans, specifications, cost estimates and other services. Work will be performed in Ridgecrest, California, and is expected to be completed by March 2021. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) contract funds for $21,000,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-18-D-5801). URS Group Inc., Morrisville, North Carolina, is awarded a $7,000,000 modification on a firm-fixed-price task order under a multiple award construction contract for phase one of Hurricane Michael repairs for stabilization and repairs to multiple buildings at Naval Support Activity, Panama City, Florida. After award of this modification, the total task order value will be $69,246,764. The work to be performed provides for construction, alteration and repair of real property and utilities because of Hurricane Michael. Work also includes any and all ancillary and incidental mechanical and electrical support services needed to accomplish required work including, but not limited to, disconnects, temporary reconnects, removals, extensions, modifications, alterations, reinstalls, new components and permanent reconnects necessary for functional operation. Work will be performed in Panama City, Florida, and is expected to be completed by October 2020. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds for $7,000,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N62470-13-D-6022). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Pinnacle Petroleum Inc.,* Huntington Beach, California, (SPE605-20-D-4516, $63,570,797); Falcon Fuels Inc.,** Paramount, California, (SPE605-20-D-4509, $57,497,366); Brad Hall and Associates Inc., Idaho Falls, Idaho, (SPE605-20-D-4505, $55,451,197); Petroleum Traders Corp.,** Fort Wayne, Indiana, (SPE605-20-D-4515, $18,411,287); Merrimac Petroleum Inc.,* Long Beach, California, (SPE605-20-D-4514, $16,596,199); Mansfield Oil Company of Gainesville Inc., Gainesville, Georgia, (SPE605-20-D-4513, $9,251,400) and Foster Fuels Inc.,** Brookneal, Virginia, (SPE605-20-D-4510, $7,238,675) have each been awarded a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE605-20-R-0200 for various types of fuel. These were competitive acquisitions with 39 offers received. These are 54-month contracts with a six-month option period. Locations of performance are Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Nevada, Utah and Virginia, with a Sept. 30, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Federal Resources Supply Co., Stevensville, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $30,000,000 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 102 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Maryland, with a Jan. 29, 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-0028). Minburn Technology Group LLC,** Great Falls, Virginia, has been awarded an $18,191,117 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SP4701-20-F-0029) against a 10-year Department of Defense Enterprise Services Initiative blanket purchase agreement (N66001-19-A-0006) and General Services Administration Federal Supply Schedule (GS-35F-309AA) for a Microsoft enterprise licensing agreement. This was a competitive acquisition with five responses received. This is a one-year delivery order with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Jan. 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Robertson Fuel Systems LLC, Tempe, Arizona, has been awarded an $8,899,105 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for fuel tank assemblies. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a four-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Arizona, with a Jan. 31, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-19-D-0012). DEFENSE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AGENCY ASRC Federal Professional Services LLC, Beltsville, Maryland, was awarded an estimated $54,757,914 firm-fixed-price contract (HS0021-20-C-0002) for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). The contract provides for case processing and overall operation center support services in support of the background investigation process. Work will be performed at Boyers, Pennsylvania, and St. Louis, Missouri. This contract is funded with fiscal 2020 DCSA working capital funds with $13,577,188 obligated at time of award. The anticipated period of performance includes one 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods. The estimated lifecycle award value is $276,794,547. This requirement was synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website as a single-award, small business set-aside on Nov. 20, 2018. As a result, all small businesses were solicited and six offers were received. The Contracting Office, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Woman-owned small business **Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2070367/source/GovDelivery/

By: Tom Kington ROME — As consensus grows in Italy that military planners need better access to civilian technology, a new law is being proposed to give the country its own version of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The new bill, which its authors claim has backing from the military and Italy's political parties, envisages the setup of a new agency able to stimulate and coordinate the development of civil technologies for military application. “We want to make the newest technology more accessible,” said Alessandra Maiorino, the Italian senator who is steering the bill through parliament. Established in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union launching its Sputnik satellite the year before, DARPA has since teamed with universities, corporations and government partners to fund research programs to improve America's defense capabilities. Technologies it has worked on have also fed back into civilian applications, notably the internet, voice recognition and small GPS receivers. “Thanks to the DARPA system, avangard civilian technologies are considered to have strategic value. This in turn has a cascade effect on the economy and on innovation in the U.S.,” according to the Italian bill. The bill calls for the new Italian agency to be based near Pisa at an existing military research facility. An eight-person management board would include a military director, three civilian researchers and representatives from the four government ministries involved — the Department of Treasury, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Economic Development, and the Ministry for Education, University and Research. The Joint Centre for Innovation and Strategic Technologies, known by its Italian acronym CINTES, will now be discussed in the Senate's Defence Committee, where representatives from the military, academia and industry will be invited to give their opinions, said Maiorino. The bill does not cite the required funding for the agency — a figure which has yet to be decided. However, it claims that Italy must quickly set up its own version of DARPA to keep up with France and Germany, who are already ahead in launching such an agency. The bill claims France's Innovation Défense Lab is now “allowing France's DGA procurement agency to map out and evaluate civilian technologies and acquire those which are of interest to the defense sector.” Germany's planned ADIC agency is cited in the bill as an example of the government investigating “disruptive” technologies in cybernetics and other key technologies. Maiorino, the senator backing the bill in Italy, is a member of the Five Star party, which has previously taken a unfavourable approach to defense investment. Before entering government in 2018, the party called for the cancellation of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. As such, the party's support for the new bill reflects a progressively more positive view of the defense sector since it entered government. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/cultural-clash/2020/01/29/new-bill-could-get-italy-its-own-darpa/

NAVY Geocent LLC, Metairie, Louisiana (N66001-20-D-3417); M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3418); McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N66001-20-D-3419); Parsons Government Services Inc., Pasadena, California (N66001-20-D-3420); Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3421); Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3422); Systems Technology Forum Ltd., Fredericksburg, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3423); Valkyrie Enterprises Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3424); and VT Milcom Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3425), are each awarded a $56,339,692 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price and cost (no fee) pricing. Support includes project management, administration, drafting, technical integration, testing, maintenance, engineering, logistics, facilities and security for software and hardware of new and existing command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and networks. All awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This two-year contract includes two three-year option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the overall potential value of this contract to an estimated $249,033,405. Work will be performed primarily in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region and Navy Region Southwest including Hawaii, Guam, Japan, California, Nevada, Washington state, Oklahoma, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines and Australia; and outside this region in Bahrain, Djibouti and Italy. Work will be performed outside the continental U.S. (50%); and inside the continental U.S. (50%) on a full-time basis. The period of performance of the base award is from Jan. 29, 2020, through Jan. 28, 2022. If all options were exercised, the period of performance would extend through Jan. 28, 2028. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using operations and maintenance (Navy); and other funding, which may include working capital funds (DoD); Department of Homeland Security funds; and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds. This contract was competitively procured via a request for proposal (N66001-19-R-0001) which was published on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the Naval Information Warfare Command e-Commerce Central website. Eighteen offers were received and nine were selected for award. The Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Northrup Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, is awarded a $15,752,580 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to exercise options to previously-awarded contract N00024-15-C-5319 for level of effort engineering services and associated travel to provide continuous support of two AN/SLQ-32(V)Y Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 System low rate initial production units. This option exercise is for the continued level of effort engineering services in support of SEWIP Block 3 low-rate initial-production units. SEWIP is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system. SEWIP Block 3 will provide select Navy surface ships a scalable electronic warfare enterprise suite with improved electronic attack capabilities. Work will be performed in Linthicum, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $60,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is awarded an $11,301,660 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract procures Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems Airborne Radio Communication ARC-210 Generation 5 radio units for the Navy. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds for $403,110; and other procurement (Navy) funds for $3,627,990 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-20-D-0006). BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $10,536,004 modification (P00002) to a previously-awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-20-C-0003). This modification exercises an option to provide engineering and technical services for integrated communications and information systems radio communications for Navy ships, in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Webster Outlying Field, to support the integrated communications and information systems radio communications. Work will be performed in St. Inigoes, Maryland (60%); California, Maryland (30%); Bath, Maine (5%); and Pascagoula, Mississippi (5%), and is expected to be completed in July 2025. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds for $4,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY Continental Heavy Civil Corp., Miami, Florida, was awarded a $23,778,240 firm-fixed-price contract for the NASA Wallops Beach Renourishment Project in Accomack County, Virginia. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Wallops Island, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 12, 2021. Fiscal 2019 civil construction, Corps of Engineers funds in the amount of $23,778,240 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-20-C-0002). AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $17,000,000 modification (000260) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for Army Prepositioned Stock (APS-2) logistics support services in support of maintenance, supply and transportation at Mannheim and Dulmen, Germany. Work will be performed in Mannheim and Dulmen, Germany, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $17,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Vision Point Systems Inc.,* Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $13,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide corrosion engineering and logistics technical, analytical, programmatic, research and development, technical assistance, testing, training, and technical writing support for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVCS) and Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Center (LCMC). Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 28, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0012). Dawn/Higley JV LLC,* Warren, Ohio, was awarded an $11,458,223 firm-fixed-price contract to repair and renovate interior and exterior of an aircraft maintenance hangar. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Mansfield, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Air Guard sustainment, repair, maintenance in the amount of $11,458,223 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Property and Fiscal Office for Ohio 179th Mission Support Contracting, Mansfield, Ohio, is the contracting activity (W50S8R-20-C-0002). AIR FORCE Technica Corp., Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,591,345 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to exercise the first option period, Feb. 15, 2020, through Feb. 14, 2021. The contract provides weapon system engineering and maintenance services to include incremental software version development and installation, security patch installations, preventative maintenance, trouble shooting and responsive Tier 1, 2 and 3 support for the Cyberspace Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter (CVA/H) weapon system. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 14, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition. Offerors were solicited under the Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) Network Operations and Infrastructure Small Business contract holders and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation; operations and maintenance; and procurement funds in the amount of $13,591,345 are being obligated at the time of modification to exercise the first option period. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Cryptologic and Cyber Systems Division, Joint-Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8732-14-D-0015, task order FA8307-19-F-0098). Starwin Industries LLC, Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a $9,554,000 firm-fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for F-16 Bugeye radomes. This contract provides for the supply of both left and right Bugeye radomes for the F-16 aircraft. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 28, 2026. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, two solicitations mailed and two offers received. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds (not multiyear) in the amount of $35,872 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, F-16 Division, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8232-20-D-0006). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Lions Services Inc.,** Charlotte, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $10,468,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for advanced combat helmet chinstraps. This is a one-year base contract with two one-year options periods. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Jan. 28, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-B082). * Small business ** Mandatory source https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2069174/source/GovDelivery/

We have 5 new challenges! The National Research Council of Canada and the Communication Security Establishment are looking for solutions from Canadian innovators. Do you think you can solve these challenges? Nous avons 5 nouveaux défis ! Le Conseil national de recherches du Canada et le Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications cherchent des solutions auprès des innovateurs canadiens. Pensez-vous pouvoir relever ces défis ?

Six companies got $150,000 Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply contracts to study everything from exoskeletons that strengthen human ammo handlers to robots that might replace them. UPDATED to clarify contract details WASHINGTON: After 100 years of hauling 100-pound howitzer shells by hand, Army gunners are about to get some high-tech help. Last week, representatives from six small and mid-size tech companies trudged through the mud with soldiers at Fort Bliss, Tex., so they could watch close-up as troops moved 155 mm shells from pallets to their M109 Paladins. The six firms are under 12-week, $150,000 contracts to refine their ideas to augment or replace human muscle at every stage of the loading process, part of the Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply (FAAR) initiative run by Austin-based Army Futures Command. “For every projectile that goes down range, that projectile is picked up no less than five different times by a soldier and moved manually – and each one of those projectiles is 100 pounds,” Maj. Chris Isch told the Army's in-house news service. “We are looking for ways to automate that as much as possible.” Robotic logistics, from self-driving supply trucks to AI predicting engine breakdowns, lacks the ominous glamour of so-called killer robots. But the sheer complexity of identifying friend or foe amidst the chaos of combat, and deep-rooted Pentagon policy on human control of lethal force, mean that autonomous weapons will take much longer to develop than autonomous supply and support systems, some of which are already in field-tests. That said, Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply would definitely mark the Army more deadly. Artillery historically kills more troops than any other branch, and after years of letting Russia pull ahead in range and volume of fire, the Army is urgently upgrading its guns. The service's No. 1 modernization priority is what it calls Long-Range Precision Fires, and while hypersonics and post-INF Treaty missiles have dominated the headlines, the LRPF portfolio also includes conventional howitzers. The Army had already begun upgrading the hull and automotive systems of its venerable M109 armored howitzer vehicle under its Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) program. Now it's looking to upgrade the gun and turret under what's called Extended Range Cannon Artillery. A New Beast To Feed Between a longer barrel, precision guidance and new rocket-boosted shells, ERCA has already doubled the Paladin's range, from 30 km (19 miles) to 62 km (39 miles) in test-shots at Yuma Proving Ground. The goal is to double it again, to over 120 km (75 miles). ERCA also plans to add an autoloader mechanism to feed the gun, instead of humans manhandling shells into the breech. That should increase the rate of fire from four shells a minute to 10. Assuming standard high-explosive rounds, that means the ERCA gun can go through 950 pounds of ammo in 60 seconds and a ton in just over two minutes. How do you feed such a beast? Currently, ammo is shipped in crates and pallets to (relatively) safe supply dumps in the rear, where troops load the individual shells into a purpose-built armored vehicle for transport to the front. That M992 ammo hauler has an extendable conveyer belt to transfer shells directly into the howitzer vehicle, but the belt doesn't always work that well in the field. Besides, the ammo hauler holds 95 rounds of high explosive and propellant, which would blow up horrifically if hit, so a standard tactic is to park the ammo transport under cover, well away from the guns, and have soldiers schlep the shells. The Army's multidisciplinary Cross Functional Team for Long-Range Precision Fires, already working on multiple missiles at once, couldn't develop the ERCA gun and a new loading system at the same time, an officer explained at an AUSA robotics conference last fall. So the team turned to a sister organization within Army Futures Command, the Army Applications Lab, whose in-house Army Capabilities Accelerator reaches out beyond traditional defense contractors to universities, startups, and smaller firms, especially ones which have little experience working with the military. Five Functions, Six Firms, 12 Weeks The Applications Lab came up with the Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply concept and sought proposals to revolutionize every step of the process. An online solicitation lists five key functions: Robotic ammo handling and transport for the supply depot to move shells from crates & pallets to the ammo vehicle, or even carry it directly to the gun; Small unmanned ground vehicles or even drones to drive or fly a few shells at a time – at least 150 pounds payload, i.e. one shell plus packaging — from the ammo vehicle to a gun at least a kilometer away; Automated ammo handling for inside the M109 howitzer itself, not only auto-loading the shell into the breech, but also setting charges, adjusting propellant loads for range, and more; Exoskeletons, both powered and passive, to help soldiers handle 100-plus-pound objects without fatigue – the main limiting factor on sustained fire – or injury; and Command & Control systems to coordinate munitions delivery when GPS and radio are being jammed, including self-directing robot swarms. The response was vigorous: 83 submissions from 43 states and multiple foreign countries, which the Army weeded down to the six firms that went out to Fort Bliss last week. Each got a $150,000 contract to spend 12 weeks gathering feedback and refining their designs, with a final brief to the Army in Austin on April 1st. (UPDATE: Technically, the six firms are all subcontractors to Alion Science and Technology, which is administering the program for the Army). The Army will then decide which, if any, should advance further towards actual production. The six companies in the current phase? Actuate (formerly Aegis) develops computer vision software that analyzes surveillance feeds in real time to detect intruders and firearms. They're based in New York City, hardly the usual breeding ground for defense contractors. Apptronik builds exoskeletons and “human-centered robotics” designed to work with people. It's a four-year-old spin-off of the University of Texas at Austin. The Army picked Austin to be Futures Command's home town precisely because it's a hub of high-tech innovation with few existing ties to the military. Carnegie Robotics in Pittsburg is a decade-old spin-off of Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center. CMU has a strong relationship with the Army and is now host to the Army AI Task Force. Neya Systems, also in the Pittsburgh area, develops aerial drones and off-road robots. It's a division of employee-owned defense contractor Applied Research Associates. Hivemapper is a Silicon Valley firm that turns surveillance video – including from drones – into digital maps, automatically updated by change-detection algorithms, for both the private sector and the Pentagon. Pratt & Miller Engineering, based in Detroit and South Carolina, and most famous for its work on race cars, whose seven-ton EMAV robot just won a field-testing contract for the Army's experimental Robotic Combat Vehicle – Light. Now, the RCV is still experimental, and Pratt & Miller's win hardly guarantees a production contract, it makes sense for them to offer a variant of the same robot for the artillery resupply program. It would definitely be simpler and cheaper for Army logisticians to use the same robotic chassis for both armed vehicles and ammo haulers. UPDATE “It's about creating direct, candid engagement between commercial solvers and Army problem owners to open the aperture on the realm of the possible,” said Porter Orr, production innovation lead at the Army Applications Lab, in a statement to Breaking Defense. “The capability presentations ...on April 1st...will be used to help shape thinking and inform future requirements, at a minimum.” “While it's possible that a single, ‘perfect' piece of hardware could come from the FAAR cohort, that's not the marker of success,” Orr continued. “Rather, it's about giving Army stakeholders better access and insight into commercial solutions with a low, upfront investment, while also creating channels that make it easier for non-traditionals to work with the Army. The FAAR cohort is the first to launch as part of this new model, but the intention is that it will not be the last.” Corrected 10pm to remove references to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) process: While the Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply (FAAR) initiative is also exploring the use of the SBIR process, the contracts discussed in this article were awarded under a different vehicle. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/01/artillery-seeks-robot-ammo-haulers