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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
23 Apr 20. Upgrade of Warrior 1 to Warrior 2 (WCSP). S80 Supplies – Voluntary ex ante transparency notice – Negotiated procedure without a call for competition – Intent to Purchase.
United Kingdom-Bristol: Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment
2020/S 080-189826
Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Supplies
Legal Basis:
Directive 2009/81/EC
Section I: Contracting authority/entity
I.1)Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Other
Postal address: MOD, Abbey Wood
Town: Bristol
NUTS code: UKH25
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
Contact person: Jonathan Pople
E-mail:
Telephone: +44 306792184
Internet address(es):
Main address: www.des.mod.uk
I.4)Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5)Main activity
Defence
Section II: Object
II.1)Scope of the procurement
II.1.1)Title:
Upgrade of Warrior 1 to Warrior 2 (WCSP)
II.1.2)Main CPV code
35000000
II.1.3)Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4)Short description:
WCSP will upgrade the current Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) to meet the requirements of the British Army and extend its scheduled Out of Service Date to 2040+.
II.1.6)Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7)Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: 800 000 000.00 GBP
II.2)Description
II.2.1)Title:
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
35000000
II.2.3)Place of performance
NUTS code: UKH25
Main site or place of performance:
Central Bedfordshire.
II.2.4)Description of the procurement:
WCSP will upgrade the current Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) to meet the requirements of the British Army and extend its scheduled Out of Service Date to 2040+.
II.2.5)Award criteria
Criterion: Criterion 1 100
II.2.11)Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13)Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
II.2.14)Additional information
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1)Description
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice
- The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
o absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
The Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) is part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and intends to place a contract with Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill Ltd (LMUK) for the Manufacture and supply of Warrior 1 vehicle updated with WCSP Capability vehicles. WCSP will upgrade the current Warrior to meet the requirements of the British Army and extend its scheduled Out of service date to 2040. The programme is concentrated on improving lethality, fightability and survivability.
The contract will include the production and supply of Warrior vehicles with the WCSP upgrade (‘the Upgraded Vehicles’), provisioning of consumables and management of the repair asset loop and maintainer training in relation to the WCSP Upgrade and operator training in relation to the Upgraded Vehicles as an option. It is considered that this contract can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice for technical reasons pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.)
Reasons for single sourcing manufacture:
The design and manufacture of the Upgraded Vehicles was competed in 2009 and LMUK was the successful supplier in this competition. A contract for the design and demonstration of the Upgraded Vehicle, with options for manufacture, was granted to LMUK in 2011. The demonstration phase of that contract is approaching completion. During the design and demonstration phases, LMUK has generated a technical data pack relating to the Upgraded Vehicles (the technical data pack). MOD does not have the right to use the technical data pack. The technical data pack is necessary to perform the manufacture of the Upgraded Vehicles within a level of risk which is tolerable to MOD.
Reasons for single sourcing other scope as outlined below:
LMUK is the only contractor which will have access to the necessary technical information to enable it to provide:
- provisioning of consumables and management of the repair asset loop for an initial 2-year period for the WCSP elements only;
- technical and maintainer support for 14 vehicles only;
- maintainer Train the Trainer (T3) package and provision of training equipment and course material in relation to the WCSP upgrade;
- an option to provide training equipment and course material to enable an initial period of operator training in relation to the WCSP upgrade.
IV.1.3)Information about framework agreement
IV.1.8)Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes
IV.2)Administrative information
IV.2.1)Previous publication concerning this procedure
Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2)Award of contract/concession
V.2.1)Date of contract award decision:
20/04/2020
V.2.2)Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: no
V.2.3)Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Official name: Lockheed Martin United Kingdom
Postal address: Reddings Wood, Pine View Park, Ampthill
Town: Bedford
NUTS code: UKH25
Postal code: MK45 2HD
Country: United Kingdom
E-mail:
Telephone: +44 12079798000
Internet address: www.lockheedmartin.com
The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: no
V.2.4)Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: 800 000 000.00 GBP
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: 800 000 000.00 GBP
V.2.5)Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3)Additional information:
The authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a security aspects letter), the Authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government Security Classification.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-security-classifications
Advertising Regime OJEU: this contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk Go reference: GO-2020421-DCB-16405653
VI.4)Procedures for review
VI.4.1)Review body
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Other
Postal address: Abbey Wood
Town: Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
E-mail:
Telephone: +44 3067982184
Internet address: www.des.mod.uk
VI.4.2)Body responsible for mediation procedures
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Other
Postal address: Abbey Wood
Town: Bristol
Postal code: Bs34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
E-mail:
Telephone: +44 3067982184
Internet address: www.des.mod.uk
VI.4.3)Review procedure
VI.4.4)Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Official name: DES
Postal address: Abbey Wood
Town: Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 3067982184
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:
21/04/2020
(Source: Europa TED)
BATTLESPACE Comment: A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told BATTLESPACE, “The MOD has published a Voluntary Transparency Notice stating their intent to enter into negotiations for a single source contract with LMUK for WCSP Manufacture. A Voluntary Transparency Notice is used to announce a procurement decision that the Authority intends to place a non-competitive contract under OJEU (Official Journal of the EU) procedures. Lockheed Martin is pleased to confirm that we continue to work closely with MOD to bring the essential WCSP capability into service. The MOD will publish a Contract Award Notice if negotiations are successful and a contract is awarded to LMUK for Manufacture.”
This announcement has surprised some observers who thought that WCSP was deemed as unaffordable. The £800m figure quoted is a 40% drop on the current estimated value of £1.225m. £450m has already been spent on development and trials which are slated to finish by the end of July 2020. Various numbers have been bandied around with 360 vehicles being the top end prediction to 265 at the lower end. A 40% cut would mean 144 vehicles which would signal an initial buy for one Brigade and training units in the UK and Canada. A source told BATTLESPACE that there was £1.4bn in the P9 line for a mix of vehicles with about 250-270 IFVs. As MOD has already sunk the cost of 515 CTA40s with 245 for Ajax so the £800m + Vat is under a billion. Given the total is for a mix of vehicles between 250-270, it does not make clear whether the Warrior ABSV, the model of which was exhibited at DSEI by Lockheed, will be included under the same sole source contract, thus locking out RBSL. This will leave surplus vehicles for disposal or for breakdown for spares.
20 Apr 20. Babcock awards contracts for Royal Navy Type 31 programme. Babcock Team 31 has awarded the second round of supply chain contracts across the UK and Europe to support the Royal Navy’s Type 31 general purpose frigate programme. One of the major suppliers for the programme is Rolls-Royce, with its brand MTU. It will deliver the main engines and diesel generators for the frigates.
Renk has won a contract to provide the main reduction gearboxes and MAN Energy Solutions has been contracted to supply the propellers and propeller shaft lines.
Blunox will also supply the exhaust environmental equipment that largely reduces emissions from the main engines and diesel generators.
Darchem Engineering has been subcontracted to supply the intake and exhaust systems for the main engines and generators.
The Chilled Water Plant subcontract has been awarded to Novenco, which will provide a critical system capability for the HVAC system.
Under the Type 31 Programme, a successful process of shipbuilding and its extended supply chain will be delivered.
The investment and programme is expected to have a positive impact on the UK, with enhanced design, engineering, project management, procurement and advanced manufacturing skills.
Babcock Team 31 Energy & Marine managing director Sean Donaldson said: “Team 31 have committed to a programme of investments to deliver prosperity in line with the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
“We are delighted to welcome these key suppliers to the supply chain for the Type 31 frigate programme, and we continue to engage with additional suppliers to support this exciting programme for Babcock and the Royal Navy.” (Source: naval-technology.com)
EUROPE
22 Apr 20. Germany set to acquire 138 Eurofighters and Super Hornets/Growlers. The German government has stated its intention to acquire 138 new combat aircraft for the Luftwaffe, comprising 93 Eurofighters and 45 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets / E/A-18 Growlers. The plan, disclosed by German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on 21 April, would appear to satisfy the Luftwaffe’s three separate combat aircraft procurement requirements that are each due to see new platforms introduced into service in the mid-2020s.
These three requirements comprise the Tornado replacement programme for 85 new aircraft, Project Quadriga for 38 new aircraft, and the Luftgestützte Wirkung im Elektromagnetischen Spektrum (luWES) electronic attack (EA) programme for 15 new aircraft. (Source: Jane’s)
20 Apr 20. Italy Orders 15 AW169MA Multirole Helicopters for Army. The Italian Ministry of Defense has decided to award aerospace group Leonardo a €337m contract to develop and supply 15 AW169 Light Utility Helicopters in advanced multirole (Multiruolo Avanzato, M.A.) configuration for the Italian Army. The decision to proceed, announced in an April 15 decision memo by Segredifesa, the defense ministry’s procurement directorate, commits the ministry to a nine year payment. It is not subject to Italy’s 22% value added tax, the memo noted. A spokesman for Leonardo could not say when the contract signature is expected, and referred queries to the Italian Army. However, the Segredifesa memo lists 2020 as the contract’s first year, even though the first payment is only due in 2021, so it is likely that it will be signed this year. The contract will run until 2028, with peak funding between 2021 and 2027. This procurement follows a previous contract, awarded to Leonardo on Dec. 20, 2019 but not made public, for the supply of the first two AW-169 Light Utility Helicopters in Addestratore Basico Commerciale (basic commercial training, A.B.C.) configuration.
The AW169MA is derived from the AW169M, the military variant of the AW169 commercial helicopter unveiled at the 2010 Farnborough Air Show, of which the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) ordered 22 units in 2018. The first was delivered in November 2019, and deliveries are continuing.
The AW169MA version for the Army will be fitted with skids, instead of the wheeled landing gear of the Financial Police version, and will be qualified to an Alternate Gross Weight of 5,100 kg, according to Segredifesa’s memo, instead of 4,800 kg of the current version. It will also be equipped with lateral stores supports which, as illustrated in images eleased by Leonardo, will be capable of carrying rocket and gun pods as well as fuel tanks and other stores.
The Italian Army plans to procure additional AW169MAs to replace its fleet of ageing AB206, AB205, AB212 and AB412 combat support helicopters, so as to solve obsolescence issues and to standardize its inventory to reduce support and training costs.
The follow-on contract awarded last week also includes two years of integrated logistic support with a guarantee of 400 flight hours per year for each of the two training helicopters, 432 hours of year of simulator training of Italian Army flight crew at the company’s Training Academy, and further training of six pilots as instructors. An option allows the support package to be extended for an additional four years at a cost of €10m. (Source: defense-aerospace.com)
15 Apr 20. Germany issues technical support tender for national drone detection system appraisal. Germany’s air navigation service provider Deutsche Flugicherung GmbH (DFS) has issued a tender for support services in evaluating its nationwide Drone Detection Systems (DDS) network
DFS was tasked by the government to research counter UAS equipment purchases and integration of a DDS into the national UTM system to protect the airspace up to 4,000ft and 18km around the country’s 16 largest airports, according to Ralf Heidger of the DFS, speaking at the U-space ConOps and research dissemination conference, Eurocontrol, September 30-October 1. The agency has developed a concept which integrates the DDS with the national UTM and ATM systems.
Under the original concept each DDS will comprise phased array and other bespoke radars, radio frequency detectors fused with primary trackers to ensure the system can distinguish between drones, commercial aircraft and other flying objects. The system will be fully integrated within the UTM, which will be able to tell which of these tracks are being cooperatively tracked, or not.
According to the latest DFS procurement text: “The procurement relates to the provision of services to carry out technical and scientific evaluations of test positions for various DDS. DFS is looking for independent manufacturers with proven experience in the field of drone detection and multi-sensor data fusion. The evaluation includes the creation of tools and evaluation concepts and related administrative requirements. Evaluation activities will include activities such as testing the probability of detection, range, the detection range, total detections, position accuracy, track continuity and stability, and additional global DDS performance measures.
Tender documents are available at: https://www.subreport.de/E82142937
Date of issue: 16 April 2020
Deadline for receipt of offers or requests to participate: 18 May 2020
Selection date: 8 June 2020
Point of contact:
For more information visit:
www.dfs.de
https://www.dfs.de/dfs_homepage/de/Unternehmen/Beschaffungen/Aktuelle%20Ausschreibungen/Technisch-wissenschaftliche%20Auswertungen%20f%C3%BCr%20Drohnendetektionssystem-Teststellungen,%20Referenznummer%3A%208138/Bekanntmachung_E82142937.pdf
(Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
19 Apr 20. Germany to Order 45 Fighter Jets From Boeing, Report Says. Germany will order 45 fighter aircraft from Boeing Co. to replace the Luftwaffe’s aging Tornado jets, Der Spiegel magazine reported Sunday.
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer emailed her U.S. counterpart Mark Esper on Thursday to inform him of the decision, the magazine said, without identifying the source of its information. Germany will order 30 F/A-18 Super Hornets and 15 EA-18G Growlers, the report added.
The German ministry couldn’t immediately be reached outside regular business hours. The Pentagon in Washington declined to comment.
Kramp-Karrenbauer’s actions may upset the Social Democrats, the junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition, as she didn’t inform them before making her decision, Der Spiegel said.
Kramp-Karrenbauer’s predecessor, Ursula von der Leyen, had offered a compromise to the SPD under which Germany would buy a combination of U.S. fighters and the Eurofighter Typhoon manufactured by Airbus SE, according to Der Spiegel. (Source: News Now/https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/
USA
22 Apr 20. Lockheed looks to sell additional F-16s to customers in Africa, Asia and South America. Lockheed Martin anticipates another wave of international F-16 sales, with countries from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia among those interested in purchasing the jet, the company’s chief financial officer said Tuesday.
“I think this is a good fourth-generation aircraft for those customers that can’t afford the F-35 or, frankly, can’t at this time buy the F-35,” Lockheed CFO Kenneth Possenriede told investors during an April 21 earnings call. “It might be a good intermediary step for customers to go from the F-16 to F-35. So we see it frankly as complementary and not competing against themselves.”
Unlike the F-35 program, which is seeing disruption within its supply chain that could delay future deliveries, the F-16 production line has experienced little impact as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Possenriede said.
The company moved production of the F-16 production line from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2019 to accommodate production of 16 Block 70 aircraft for Bahrain. Since Bahrain’s order in 2018, Lockheed has garnered contracts for eight F-16s for Bulgaria, 14 aircraft for Slovakia, and is working with the U.S. government on a sale of 66 jets for Taiwan.
“We also have a couple of orders for F-16 that we’re working to try to shape,” Possenriede said. “There is an African country that is interested in F-16, so we’re hopeful that will happen. [There is also a] South American country, and then there are some Southeast Asian countries that are interested in F-16 as well.”
Possenriede didn’t detail which nations were considering purchases of the F-16, as defense companies typically wait until international militaries publicly declare their interest in a sale before talking about specific customers.
Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group, said there’s a “pretty good chance” that some of those orders materialize.
“Lockheed was doing a disservice by forgetting the F-16 program for so many years. They had this idea that the future was F-35 and nothing but F-35, ignoring the part of the market that is not prepared to buy the F-35 price tag,” he said. “It’s actually a really good franchise with a really solid core market. It seems ill-advised to neglect it.”
If a new customer in Africa is looking to buy F-16s, it could be Botswana, which has indicated an interest in buying fighter jets, Aboulafia said. Lockheed has already sold F-16s to Morocco and Egypt, and the U.S. State Department in 2019 cleared Morocco for new F-16s and upgrades.
In South America, Lockheed has been trying to sell F-16s to Argentina for years, but Aboulafia believes a second order for Chile is a more likely prospect. In Southeast Asia, a sale to Indonesia “would seem to be one of the most likely possibilities,” he added. (Source: Defense News)
22 Apr 20. Unit Cost of F-35B Engine Jumps 15% in 5 Months to $27.8m. The unit cost of a Pratt & Whitney engine for the troubled Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL variant has increased to $27.78m, according to a contract announced by the Pentagon on April 21.
The announcement said the Pentagon would pay $111.13m for four F135-PW-600 engines, or $27.78m each. Remarkably, this is an increase of 15% since Nov. 21, 2019 – five months ago to the day — when the Pentagon awarded a previous engine contract which included ten F135-PW-600 engines for $240.9m, or $24.1m each.
The Pentagon announcements provided no explanation of the increase. A spokeswoman for Pratt & Whitney declined to comment the price increase this morning, and referred all queries to the F-35 Joint Program Office, which did not respond outside of office hours in the U.S.
The increase of $3.7m per engine is equivalent to +15% in five months (or 36% on an annual basis), or exactly ten times higher than the annual inflation rate in the United States, which according to U.S. Labor Department data published on April 10, 2020 was 1.5% for the 12 months ended March 2020. While an annual inflation rate of 36% in a procurement program raises questions of contractual oversight and ethics, it also clearly contradicts Pentagon claims that it continues to reduce F-35 production costs.
Announcing a $34bn contract for 478 additional F-35 aircraft on Oct. 29, 2019, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment Ellen M. Lord said that “there’s a per-unit cost reduction for each variant of the aircraft that averages around 12.7%,” which seems difficult to reconcile with STOVL engine costs that are increasing by 36% on an annual basis. The contract announcements of Nov. 21 (P00014) and April 21 (P00019) are both modifications to the same contract (N00019-18-C-1021), confirming that both conform to the same terms and are thus directly comparable. Furthermore, both contracts are due to be completed at approximately the same time, in April and July 2022.
Both contracts are reproduced below with the salient points highlighted.
Pentagon Contract Announcement. (Source: US Department of Defense; issued April 21, 2020)
United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded an $111,131,635 modification (P00019) to a previously-awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost reimbursable contract (N00019-18-C-1021).
This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of four Pratt & Whitney (PW) F135-PW-600 propulsion systems for the Marine Corps to be installed in F-35B short take-off and vertical landing aircraft.
Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (51.7%); Indianapolis, Indiana (38.8%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (9.5%), and is expected to be complete by July 2022.
Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $111,131,635 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Pentagon Contract Announcement
(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Nov. 21, 2020)
United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $762,486,023 modification (P00014) to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-fee contract (N00019-18-C-1021).
This modification exercises options for the Lot 14 production and delivery of 48 F135-PW-100 propulsion systems for the Air Force and 10 F135-PW-600 propulsion systems for the Marine Corps.
Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (85.3%); Indianapolis, Indiana (11.8%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (2.9%), and is expected to be completed in April 2022.
Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force and Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $762,486,023 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($521,507,748; 68%); and the Marine Corps ($240,978,275; 32%).
The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Source: defense-aerospace.com)
21 Apr 20. 50 Vendors Vie For Air Force Flying Car. The “Agility Prime” event next week will kick off with speeches by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Air Force acquisition head Will Roper.
The Air Force is pulling out all the stops next week to demonstrate the potential utility of ‘flying cars’ to military users across the services, as well as civil agencies within the US government including the Department of Transportation.
The Agility Prime program’s virtual event, being held April 27-May 1 will open with speeches by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Air Force acquisition head Will Roper, who has been championing the idea since last summer.
Some 50 vendors of electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will be given a chance to strut their stuff to potential buyers across the military services and the US government, Col. Nate Diller, Agility Prime team lead, told reporters today.
The high-powered line-up is a testimony to the Air Force’s dedication to becoming an earlier adopter of flying car technology for moving people and cargo, as commercial actors such as Uber move out on developing designs for the commercial market.
Diller said the Air Force also has been working closely with NASA — which itself has been working with Uber on an eVTOL craft — and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to create operational standards and licensing issues for future vehicles. The FAA regulates US airspace and NASA obviously has expertise in providing safety certification for aircraft and spacecraft carrying people.
Bob Pearce, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics research, and Michael Romanowski, the FAA’s policy chief for aircraft certification, will speak at the event as well, Diller said.
Agility Prime is first focused on mid-sized eVTOL craft that can carry three to eight people. Diller explained that the service sees potential utility in two other classes of vehicles: very small craft that can carry only one or two people (which he said some vendors are already test flying using FAA licenses applying to ultra-light aircraft); and larger aircraft that could ferry cargo and a large number of people.
The first round of Agility Prime prototype contracting, Diller said, in some cases bounce off the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I and Phase II contracts already held by some vendors. However, he stressed, the door is wide open to new entries — with next week’s event offering “virtual booths” for newcomers to show off their wares. He would not, however, provide an estimate of planned Air Force spending on the program.
The Air Force also is wooing private sector investors to the event in hopes they will kick in funds to the companies showing the most promise, both technologically and in plans for getting their wares on the street.
As Breaking D readers know, Roper has launched a concerted effort to revamp the service’s approach to SBIR funds, led by the new AFVentures unit, designed to match Air Force funds to investments from venture capital funds and ‘angel’ investors (read, interested rich people.)
Roper has said that he intends for AFVentures to invest about $1 billion a year in some 30 to 40 “game-changing” startups in hopes of helping them vault over the infamous ‘valley of death’ between demonstrating a capability and becoming a DoD program of record.
One of the hallmarks of Roper’s approach to Air Force acquisition chief has been a focus on leveraging commercial research and development to help DoD ensure that it can stay ahead of China in the pursuit of new technology — arguing that ‘innovation is the new battlefield.’ (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Breaking Defense)
20 Apr 20. DARPA awards nine new contracts to foster drone swarm technology. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued nine new contracts to companies developing drone swarm technologies, the agency announced April 13.
Through the agency’s Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program, or OFFSET, it hopes to foster technology developments that will enable 250 small unmanned air or ground robots to work together in support of the war fighter.
The program works in five main areas: swarm tactics, swarm autonomy, human-swarm teaming, virtual environment and physical test bed. The agency has hosted multiple swarm sprints to encourage rapid innovation in one or more of those areas.
The nine awards mark the fifth such swarm sprint, with this one focused on swarm tactics and physical test beds in an urban environment.
“The urban environment presents compelling challenges such as tall buildings, tight spaces, and limited sight lines,” Timothy Chung, the OFFSET program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said in an agency news release. “Enhancing the Swarm Physical Testbeds that tackle those unique challenges is a desired goal of the OFFSET program.”
Four of the participants will be tackling the swarm tactics portion of the sprint, where they will be asked to solve problems such as “disrupting the opposition’s decision making, obfuscating swarm intent, updating maps of a dynamic environment, and maintaining the swarm’s communications indoors.”
The remaining five performers will work on the physical test bed thrust area, which includes reducing deployment times, utilizing new navigation sensors, incorporating fixed-wing aircraft into the swarm and enhancing mobility for robotic, wheeled vehicles in urban settings.
Participants will incorporate their technologies into the OFFSET swarm systems architecture to demonstrate their respective solutions, with field tests taking place in December 2020.
The recipients are as follows:
Thrust area: Physical test bed
- Michigan Technological University/Michigan Tech Research Institute
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- HDT Expeditionary Systems, Inc.
- Sentien Robotics
- Texas A&M University
Thrust area: Swarm tactics
- Michigan Technological University/Michigan Tech Research Institute
- Charles River Analytics, Inc.
- Soar Technology, Inc.
- Northwestern University
(Source: C4ISR & Networks)
20 Apr 20. Is the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System program gearing up to be the next major acquisition failure? Since Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein took over as the service’s top general in 2016, the Air Force has made figuring out how to connect its weapons with those of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps its biggest priority.
The Air Force is set to have spent $300m on the Advanced Battle Management System through fiscal year 2021. However, the service is still struggling to define what ABMS needs to do and how much it will cost, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released April 16.
“The Air Force has not established a plan or business case for ABMS that identifies its requirements, a plan to attain mature technologies when needed, a cost estimate, and an affordability analysis. … To date, the Air Force has not identified a development schedule for ABMS, and it has not formally documented requirements,” it read.
That could have significant consequences for the program down the road, GAO continued:
“GAO’s previous work has shown that weapon systems without a sound business case are at greater risk for schedule delays, cost growth, and integration issues.”
The GAO made four recommendations: create a cost estimate and a plan laying out how to afford the program, formalize the decision-making authorities of those involved in ABMS, and develop a list of technologies that are expected to fit into the initial system.
In a response to the report, Kevin Fahey, the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, concurred with all four recommendations — a sign that, going forward, the Air Force may be required to solidify more of its ABMS plans.
The Air Force has maintained that the program’s unconventional structure and methodology is a feature, not a bug.
It wants to use a series of experiments to help discover and mature new technologies that can be weaved in alongside legacy platforms. For instance, the first ABMS experiment connected SpaceX’s Starlink constellation with an AC-130 gunship, and the next demo will employ a Kratos Valkyrie drone carrying communications gear that enables the F-22 and F-35 to securely share data while allowing them to maintain stealth.
Air Force officials have said technologies that are proven to be successful and mature during the experiments could become programs of record inside the ABMS family of systems.
However, the Air Force does not seem to have a firm plan for what technologies it needs and when to bring them online, the GAO said. The service has identified 28 development areas that includes a new cloud network, a new common radio, and apps that provide different ways of presenting and fusing data. However, none of those areas are linked to specific technical requirements, and the Air Force hasn’t explained what organizations are responsible for the development of those products.
In one damning section, GAO compared ABMS with several cancelled programs with similar aims, such as the Army’s Future Combat Systems program that sought to field a family of manned and unmanned technologies and the Joint Tactical Radio System, which was intended to create a government-owned software defined radio. These programs publicly flamed out after millions of dollars were spent in development, in part because certain technologies were not mature enough and caused the schedule to unravel.
The scope of ABMS will be far larger than those previous programs, the Pentagon’s Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation told the GAO. But because the Air Force has not provided a detailed acquisition strategy, CAPE does not have confidence that the Air Force will be able succeed where those programs have failed.
“Given the criticality of the battle management command and control mission and the planned retirement of legacy programs, the lack of an ABMS business case introduces uncertainty regarding whether the needed capabilities will be developed within required time frames,” the GAO said.
Figuring out who has responsibility and decision-making authority for ABMS is also a messy proposition, the GAO said.
The ABMS effort is led by a chief architect, Preston Dunlap, who is responsible for managing tradeoffs among the portfolio of technologies and guide experimentation efforts. However, existing programs that will be part of the ABMS family will retain their separate program office with their own independent management, and the Air Force has yet to clarify whether Dunlap will be able to redirect those program’s funding to fall in line with ABMS objectives.
For example, the Air Force’s program office for space is currently working on a data integration project that could correspond with ABMS efforts to field a cloud network.
But “although some ABMS funds have been obligated for this project, there is no documentation to support that the Chief Architect will be able to direct the PEO to change the project objectives or timeline to align with ABMS requirements once they are defined,” the GAO said.
The role of the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability or AFWIC, which was established in 2017 to help define how the service will fight wars in the future, is also unclear. An AFWIC senior official told the GAO that the organization began leading the service’s multidomain command and control initiatives in 2019, but it is uncertain whether AFWIC also has the power to change the direction of the ABMS program. (Source: Defense News)
17 Apr 20. COVID-19 NEWS: Navy Not Rushing Frigate Contract Award. The Navy is pushing to accelerate contract awards to mitigate potential schedule slips resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this so far doesn’t apply for one of its most prominent programs, a senior service official said April 16. The future guided-missile frigate, or FFG(X), is slated to replace the Littoral Combat Ship and have the ability to counter submarines, airplanes and other surface ships. The service formally kicked off the effort in July 2017 by releasing a request for information that outlined its need for a multi-mission vessel that leverages existing designs. The contract was originally slated to be awarded by July. In March, former Acting United States Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly told radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt that the service was looking to push that date forward. However, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James “Hondo” Geurts told reporters that there is no change to the schedule.
“We are marching along the schedule that I’ve had all along,” Geurts said. “And that is to try to get that awarded as soon as possible this fiscal year, and so we are continuing along that plan. … I’m not going to give you an exact date, but we are moving along in a disciplined manner, but aggressively, on that program.”
In recent months, the Navy has been awarding contracts earlier than planned to keep programs on track during the pandemic. For instance, the service accelerated a LPD-31 amphibious transport dock ship award and sped up the CVN-74 USS John C. Stennis refueling and complex overhaul planning process from July to April. For LPD-31, the service announced this month it had awarded a $1.5bn contract modification to Huntington Ingalls Industries. Geurts said this came about eight months earlier than planned.
To do so, the service used a technique they used for the F-18 Hornet, he said. Rather than use a request for proposals to gauge price estimates, the Navy put out an offer based on price information it already had.
“We know pretty well what an LPD costs,” he said. “We used a price offer process where, using all the data that we collectively had. We made an offer on what we thought a fair and reasonable, yet aggressive price was, on LPD 31.”
The Navy is also looking for ways to operate its shipyards more efficiently amid the coronavirus, he noted. “We’re learning in the shipyards, maybe different techniques … to gain some efficiency while also creating some resiliency,” he said. “I think over the next three or four weeks we’ll get a better view over the exact delay and disruption and how we might mitigate that, or … where do we have opportunity where we can accelerate things.” (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
REST OF THE WORLD
21 Apr 20. Australian $5m SICP funding package unveiled. Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price has announced a total of nearly $5m in Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority (SICP) grant funding for 11 Australian SMEs. The SICP grants program supports eligible Australian small to medium-sized companies who can provide significant contributions to our Defence industry needs.
“These successful grant recipients are being supported to deliver a number of quality projects that will enhance Australian defence industry’s sovereign capabilities, aligned with Defence’s Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities,” Minister Price said.
“Queensland-based Cyborg Dynamics Engineering is developing a robotic unmanned ground vehicle. Their grant funding will be used to fund the project’s design, materials, equipment and testing.
“Another recipient, New South Wales-based company Rojone Pty Ltd, is establishing a fibre optic cable assembly capability, connecting vital systems to ensure ADF personnel have access to the information they require to perform their duties.”
Minister Price said the SICP grants program is a key government initiative providing support and funding to eligible Australian businesses.
The funding will help them to build their capacity and resilience, which in turn supports Defence’s most critical capabilities.
Eligible activities funded through the program relate directly to buying, constructing, installing or commissioning capital equipment, including associated training for their workforce.
Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grants were made out to:
Frontline Manufacturing
$710,000
Grant funding will be used to purchase a specialised brake press for manufacturing metal plate used on armoured fighting vehicles.
QLD
SRC Australia
$311,384
Grant funding will be used to fund the purchase and installation of specialist hardware that will enable the facility to support warfighting functions.
ACT
Infinite Engineering
$1,000,000
Grant funding will be used to purchase capital equipment that will increase scale of manufacturing capacity and capability.
VIC
Cyborg Dynamics Engineering
$426,150
Grant funding will be used to fund project design, materials, equipment, and testing.
QLD
Jehbco Manufacturing
$123,654
Grant funding will be used to fund the purchase and installation of new capital equipment. This will expand production capabilities.
NSW
Aero Spec Engineering
$399,077
Grant funding will be used to fund the purchase and installation of manufacturing equipment, building modifications, staff training, and accreditation.
VIC
RUAG Australia
$1,000,000
Grant funding will be used to modernise and automate critical equipment.
VIC
The Smart Think Australia
$207,291
Grant funding will be used to purchase and install new capital equipment that will increase productivity, and broaden the range of products available.
VIC
Aquaterro Advanced Product Supplies
$372,317
Grant funding will be used to expand storage requirements for weapons and ammunition, in line with Defence specifications.
VIC
Simbiant
$278,475
Grant funding will be used to design and commission a software-defined radar advanced signal processing facility.
SA
Rojone
$129,950
Grant funding will be used to purchase capital equipment and undertake technical training. This will enable the production of military-grade cable assemblies within Australia.
NSW
More information about the grants and the application process can be found at the Centre for Defence Industry Capability website: www.business.gov.au/cdic
(Source: Defence Connect)
19 Apr 20. China’s GAIC reveals first export order for FTC-2000G aircraft. China’s Guizhou Aviation Industries Corporation (GAIC) has received its first export order for the locally developed FTC-2000G advanced jet trainer (AJT)/light-attack aircraft.
The stated-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on 19 April that the order was placed in early 2020 by an undisclosed Southeast Asian country, with delivery of the “first batch” of aircraft expected to be take place in 2021. No details were provided about the contract value or the number of platforms on order.
“It took less than two years … from the first flight to the signing of the first export order with a certain Southeast Asian country,” said GAIC Chairman Wang Wenfei on 16 April, with other media outlets also quoting him as saying that “this is an unprecedented speed in the history of AVIC’s made-for-export warplane development”.
The announcement came after the first series-produced FTC-2000G, which appears to be based on the GAIC JL-9G two-seat supersonic turbojet-powered trainer operated by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), conducted its maiden flight on 28 September 2018.
The flight took place only a few weeks after Xinhua had reported that GAIC was series-producing the twin-seat platform in the southern Chinese city of Anshun “to meet the demands from the international market”.
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which markets the locally developed platform, has stated that the FTC-2000G has a top speed of Mach 1.4 (or 1,728km/h), a maximum take-off weight of 11 tonnes, a maximum range of 1,650km (internal fuel), and an operational flight ceiling of 15km.
The 15.4m- long and 4.8m-high aircraft, which is reportedly capable of staying airborne for two hours in a single operation (using internal fuel), is equipped with “modern radar and fire-control systems”, can be fitted with up to seven hardpoints, and has a maximum payload capability of 3,000kg, according to the manufacturer. (Source: Jane’s)
20 Apr 20. DAPA cost analysis favours acquisition of locally developed platform for RoKMC’s attack helicopter requirement. A cost analysis conducted by South Korea’s Defense Acquistion Programme Administration (DAPA) has concluded that a Republic of Korea Marine Corps (RoKMC) requirement for 24 attack helicopters would be best met by the acquisition of a locally developed platform. The year-long study, which was conducted by DAPA’s Defense Agency of Technology and Quality (DTaQ), concluded that procuring a locally developed platform capable of operating from the Republic of Korea Navy’s amphibious assault ships would be more cost effective than acquiring a foreign-made one. Bidding for the programme began January 2019, with five companies participating: Bell Textron (proposing its AH-1Z Viper), Boeing (AH-64E Apache Guardian), Turkish Aerospace (T-129 Atak), Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky (S-70i), and Korean Aerospace Industries or KAI (Surion Marine Attack Helicopter (MAH)). (Source: Jane’s)
17 Apr 20. Saudi corvette order requires fresh export licence. The Spanish government says it has yet to approve a request for a definitive export licence for a EUR2bn (USD1.7bn) corvette order by Saudi Arabia in July 2018, despite construction having already started on the five corvettes. In a written reply to a question from Basque Bildu party member of parliament (MP) Jon Iñarritu on 8 April, the Socialist-led coalition said the application would be “rigorously” checked against the UN-backed 2014 Arms Trade Treaty, Spanish legislation, and EU criteria. This comes after strong opposition in recent years to Spain selling the corvettes and also bombs to Saudi Arabia, in particular from the far left party Unidos Podemos, which is now a junior partner in the government with the Socialist Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) party. (Source: Jane’s)
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American Panel Corporation
American Panel Corporation (APC) since 1998, specializes in display products installed in defence land systems, as well as military and commercial aerospace platforms, having delivered well over 100,000 displays worldwide. Military aviators worldwide operate their aircraft and perform their missions using APC displays, including F-22, F-18, F-16, F-15, Euro-fighter Typhoon, Mirage 2000, C-130, C-17, P-3, S-3, U-2, AH-64 Apache Helicopter, V-22 tilt-rotor, as well as numerous other military and commercial aviation aircraft including Boeing 717 – 787 aircraft and several Airbus aircraft. APC panels are found in nearly every tactical aircraft in the US and around the world.
APC manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Large Area Display (LAD) display (20 inch by 8 inch) with dual pixel fields, power and video interfaces to provide complete display redundancy. At DSEI 2017 we are exhibiting the LAD with a more advanced design, dual display on single substrate with redundant characteristics and a bespoke purpose 8 inch by 6 inch armoured vehicle display.
In order to fully meet the demanding environmental and optical requirements without sacrificing critical tradeoffs in performance, APC designs, develops and manufactures these highly specialized displays in multiple sizes and configurations, controlling all AMLCD optical panel, mechanical and electrical design aspects. APC provides both ITAR and non-ITAR displays across the globe to OEM Prime and tiered vetronics and avionics integrators.
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