Computer Science Corp. in Falls Church, VA received a $11.3 million order under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (M67854-02-A-9004) for C4ISR support to the Marine Corps Systems Command’s Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity (MCTSSA). The order has pre-priced options of $1.2 million, which if exercised, would bring the total order value to $12.6 million.

MCTSSA is the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) Systems Engineering Interoperability, Architecture, and Technology (SIAT) center for the US Marine Corps…

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AEDC at work: X-29
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The Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), named for U.S. Air Force pioneer Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, bills itself as “The World’s Premier Flight Simulation Test Facility.” Nearly half of the AEDC’s 58 test facilities are unique in the U.S., and 14 are unique in the world.

These specialized test facilities have played a crucial role in the development and sustainment of virtually every high performance aircraft, air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon, missile, and space system in use by all four of the U.S. military services today. The Center has also been involved in the development of every NASA manned space system, many satellites, and numerous commercial aircraft and spacecraft systems.

In 2003, the Air Force consolidated the test operations contract and the base services contract into a single contract for operations, maintenance, information management, and base support…

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The US Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) awarded CSC a contract with a potential value of $50 million to provide applications infrastructure and systems support (AISS) services, including information assurance, development testing, configuration management and training, for AMC’s command and control (C2) system. The contract has a 1-year base period and 3 one-year options.

For this contract (FA4452-09-D-0004), CSC leads a team that includes Harris Corp in Melbourne, FL; Northrop Grumman in Los Angeles, CA; and TRI-COR Industries in Lanham, MD.

AMC has upgraded its C2 system to provide round-the-clock monitoring of mobility aircraft and aircrews worldwide…

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DCATS Satcom Terminals
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Apptis in Chantilly, VA won a $132.9 million time and material task order to provide management, engineering, integration and acquisition of U.S. Army command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems worldwide. Apptis will provide the systems to the Command Center Upgrades/Special Projects Office, which is part of Team Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (TEAM DCATS). Work is to be determined by mission requirements with an estimated completion date of June 30/11. For the contract, 16 bids were solicited and 3 bids received by Army Contracting Command in Alexandria, VA.

Located at Fort Monmouth, NJ, TEAM DCATS manages more than 100 projects that support soldiers, major commands and combatant commanders worldwide. Projects include strategic satellite communications and wideband control systems, long-haul terrestrial microwave and fiber optic communications systems, tech control facilities, Combat Service Support Communications systems, critical power infrastructure, command center upgrades, base radios and combat vehicle intercom systems.

The Apptis work is being performed under the $20 billion Army Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Services (ITES-2S) multiple-award contract vehicle. DID has more on ITES-2S, including a list of companies that are eligible to compete and their contract numbers…

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Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
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As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising faster than the US military can add it. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address that need, and close the gap.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record – and TSAT is certainly significant. The final price tag on the entire program has been quoted at anywhere from $14-25 billion through 2016, including the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. Lockheed Martin and Boeing each won over $600 million in risk reduction contracts to develop key TSAT SS satellite system technologies, and TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract was already underway.

The TSAT constellation’s central role in next-generation US military infrastructure makes it worthy of in-depth treatment – but its survival was never assured. There was always a risk that outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end, just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium project. This FOCUS article examines that possibility, even as it offers an overview of the US military’s vision for its communications infrastructure, how TSAT fits, the program’s challenges, and complete coverage of contracts and significant events. New additions are highlighted in green for your convenience.

The latest developments revolve around the end of the program. Despite a positive recent report from the GAO, key components of TMOS/TSAT are being canceled outright as part of the program’s planned termination…

• Key Background – Why TSAT Is Thought to be Necessary (i.e. continue reading…)
• Key Background – The Big Picture: TSAT and the Transformational Communications Architecture
• Briefing – What Is TSAT?
• Briefing – TMOS: TSAT’s Ground Component
• Briefing – TSAT: Issues & Decisions
• Briefing – The AEHF Alternative, and Lessons Learned for TSAT
• Briefing – TSAT: Program
• Analysis – TSAT’s Competitors – and Its Fate
• News – TSAT: Timeline and Ongoing Developments [updated]
• Appendix A – Additional Readings & Sources
  
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YRH-70 test, 2005
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The ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) is a program by the United States Army to replace around 375 Bell Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters. The Army’s initial replacement, the $14.6 billion RAH-66 Comanche program, was canceled in 2004. Instead, the Army would buy a larger number of less expensive platforms, with reduced capabilities.

Bell Helicopter Textron initially won the ARH competition, beating an MD Helicopter/Boeing consortium. As DID has noted re: a similar $500-600 million competition in India, Bell’s ARH-70 is a militarized version of its highly successful 407 single-engine commercial helicopter.

This will serve as DID’s FOCUS Article for the ARH program, providing updated background, details, and contract award information. Bell Helicopter continued to work on the ARH-70 at its own expense, but rising program costs killed the program. The OH-58Ds still need to be replaced, and Eurocopter is already testing an armed variant of the UH-72A that won the Army’s Light Utility Helicopter competition. Even as developments in the Army make it less certain that the next winner will be a helicopter solution…

• The ARH Program: What Happened? [updated]
• ARH: Now What? [updated]
• The ARH Program: Contracts & Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Weary Warriors – The Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Fleet
• Appendix B: Initial Winner – Bell’s ARH-70
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Biometrics is a key weapon of war these days, in addition to its uses as a defensive system. That’s the new reality described in “Biometrics Shifting from Defensive to Offensive Uses in Iraq” with help from firms like SAIC.

Governments like umbrella “multiple award” contracts that let them deal with specific areas on set terms. It cuts administrative overhead costs, creates known pools of familiar competitors, and shortens the gap between requests and service. Hence the US Army’s recent announcement of their $497 million Biometrics Operations and Support Services Unrestricted (BOSS-U) multiple award contract awards, run by the Information Technology, E-commerce and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4) on behalf of the Biometrics Task Force.

The opportunity was initially announced on May 23/08, and proposals from 12 offerors were received by the closing date of Aug 18/08. The winners were announced in late December 2008, and include:

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A team led by ITT Corporation recently announced a 5-7 year contract to perform telemetry, tracking and command services for near-Earth missions under NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Space Communications Network Services (SCNS) contract. The contract has a base period of performance of 5 years and 3 months, with 2 one-year option periods, and a maximum potential value of $1.26 billion if all options are exercised.

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The USA’s Contract Field Teams (CFT) Program quickly deploys skilled technicians on site to accomplishes depot and organizational level inspection, maintenance, modification and repair at operational Government locations worldwide. The program works with each of the USAF’s Air Logistics Centers (ALCs), plus USAF Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Air Force Reserves (AFRES) and the US Air National Guard (ANG). CFT contracts can also be used to support the needs of the US Army, Navy, Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other American Federal Agencies. The program started in 1951, and the last contract was issued in 1997, expiring in 2008. Hence the new award.

The US Army makes extensive use of this contract vehicle for Army Aviation Support, and the US Navy operates an aviation fleet that is larger than most national air forces. since the roster of firms involved in these activities is very similar no matter which service is making the request, piggybacking on a fully fleshed out contract and using similar terms and conditions makes a lot of sense. FAA support, meanwhile, involves the repair of navigation equipment, electronics, and other components of civil aviation infrastructure.

Like most multiple-award contracts, the “winners” are really just given an opportunity to compete for relevant task orders. When a specific need arises, the umbrella contract’s extensive terms and conditions are already set, and bids can be offered and evaluated very quickly. That arrangement saves time and money for the military, the firms involved, and ultimately for American taxpayers. At this time $280,000 has been committed, and the contracts will be managed by the 327 ASW/FT at Tinker AFB in Midwest City, OK.

Winners under the new CFT program, with DefenseLINK announcement errors corrected, include:

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As of July 2007, Raytheon Technical Services held the US Army contract for live training support, Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) carries the contract for virtual training (simulators), and General Dynamics the one for constructive training (computer models & game-like simulations). More than 3,400 contractors served more than 150 manned sites and 458 unmanned sites with training devices world-wide.

The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI) office has been working for the last couple of years on a new approach that does away with the 3 domains, in order to put the full focus on delivering whatever training support is needed and appropriate, in whatever manner works best. The Warfighter Field Operations Customer Support (Warfighter FOCUS) contract would consolidate operations, maintenance, systems integration and engineering support services for the Army’s live, virtual and constructive training systems into a single 10-year, $11-12 billion package once existing contracts expire on Oct 31/07.

On one side was the Warrior Training Alliance (WTA), led by prime contractor Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC and Computer Sciences Corporation. One the other side was the Warfighter FOCUS Alliance (WFA), led by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Saab. Each team had a roster that included other major and minor players, and DID details both teams below. The winner was the Raytheon-led WTA, and integration is now proceeding…

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