Election 2020. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced his bid for the 2020 presidency Feb. 19. He will be seeking the Democratic nomination, as he did in the 2016 election. He joins an already crowded group of Democratic nominees, including four other sitting senators. Among his pledge to support progressive efforts and run on an anti-Trump platform, he reinforced his commitment to taking on “the military industrial complex” in an email to supporters Tuesday. Sanders was easily re-elected to his third Senate term in the 2018 midterm election, and received over $16,500 from defense industry employees in campaign contributions for the cycle.
Congress.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter Thursday to Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and requested information on “the suspected retransfer of American weapons from foreign governments to suspected terrorists, armed militias, and other unauthorized third-party, non-state actors,” according to a press statement Friday. She expressed concern about a recent CNN report that Saudi- and Emirati-owned weapons sold by the U.S. have ended up in the hands of unauthorized militias over the course of the war in Yemen. Warren requested unclassified answers to her queries by March 8.
F-21. Lockheed Martin on Wednesday unveiled a new fighter jet built specifically for the Indian Air Force. The F-21 would be built by Lockheed Martin and India’s Tata Advanced Systems “exclusively” for India, leveraging technologies from Lockheed Martin’s F-22 and F-35 fighter jets on an upgraded F-16 airframe. The Indian Air Force is looking to replace its fighter fleet of 1960s-era MiG-21s and MiG-27 Russian-made jets.
Software. The Air Force Thursday awarded Boeing subsidiary Tapestry Solutions a not-to-exceed $259 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Weapon Planning Software (WPS). The contract provides for the development, enhancement, and support of the WPS suite, which is a common component within the Joint Mission Planning System architecture. Work will be performed predominately in St. Louis, Missouri; and Niceville, Florida, and is expected to be complete by February 2029. Two offers were received, according to the contract notice. FY ‘19 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $355,878 are being obligated on an initial delivery order at the time of award.
Space. Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane successfully completed its second trip to space Friday, carrying two pilots and one test passenger out of the Earth’s atmosphere. The company performed the test in Mojave, California, where the spaceplace VSS Unity was carried to an initial altitude of about 45,000 feet by the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. Once released, it climbed to an altitude of over 55 miles and reached a top speed of Mach 3 before returning to Earth. The spacecraft carried research payloads as part of NASA’s Flight Opportunity program. Virgin Galactic plans to offer commercial suborbital flights for space tourism and other purposes.
Air Force. Honeywell has been awarded a not-to-exceed $150 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Advanced Turbine Technologies for Affordable Mission (ATTAM)-Capability Phase I. The mission of the ATTAM Phase I program is to develop, demonstrate, and transition advanced turbine propulsion, power and thermal technologies that provide improvement in affordable mission capability. Work will be performed in Phoenix, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 20, 2027. Fifty-four offers were received for ATTAM Phase I, and the Air Force has awarded several other IDIQ contracts, including to Northrop Grumman. FY ‘18 and ’19 RDT&E funds in the amount of $340,000 are being obligated on the first task order at the time of award.
Identity Dominance. Systems that deny anonymity to terrorists remain a key ingredient to intercepting and preventing them from traveling to the U.S., the Trump administration says in a new strategy. “Key to detecting and interdicting terrorists attempting to travel will be enhancing systems that validate identities and advancing the use of biometric technologies,” says the 21-page document, National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel. The strategy, which was signed by President Trump in December, also calls for better sharing of information with all partners, improve partnerships among the private sector, law enforcement and the intelligence community, and support foreign partners with the tracking, identification and interdiction of terrorists. The new strategy builds on the 2006 National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel.
Share Repurchases. Leidos will accelerate the repurchase of $200 million of its stock under an agreement with a financial institution, the company says. The accelerated repurchases are expected to be completed by the end of April. The agreement is part of its existing repurchase authorization that is for 20 million shares, of which Leidos still has remaining capacity of about 13.5 million.
Vehicle Radar RFI. The Army’s new Combat Capabilities Development Command on Friday released a request for information for future ground combat vehicle radar technologies. Officials wrote they are interested in scalable radar technologies that are low Size, Weight, and Power – Cost (SWAP-C) and Modular Active Protection Systems (MAPS) compliable, while helping to achieve active protection and Hostile Fire Detection/Location missions. For scalability, officials are looking for “the ability to dynamically increase/decrease the antenna aperture size with zero/minimal radar backend changes.” The RFI is intended to gather industry input on potential performance capability, unique technologies, and maturity level for new radar technologies. Responses to the RFI are due by March 25.
DDG-117. The Navy accepted delivery of the newest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117), from shipbuilding Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Miss., on Feb. 22. Before delivery, DDG-117 conducted a set of pier-side and at-sea trials to demonstrate its material and operational readiness. The ship is scheduled to be commissioned later this summer. HII’s Pascagoula shipyard is also building the future DDGs Delbert D. Black (DDG-119), Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG-121), Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) and Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), the first Flight III ship. HII has a contract for six more Flight III destroyers under an FY ’18 – ’22 multiyear procurement award.
Hornet Jammers. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Harris Corp. a $169 million modification option to procure 78 full-rate production Lot 16 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) AN/ALQ-214 A(V)4/5 Onboard Jammers on Feb. 21. These systems are the onboard warfare jamming system for the IDECM on for F/A-18 C/D Hornet and E/F Super Hornets, protecting the aircraft from things like radio frequency-guided threats and disrupting or degrading launch and engagement sequences of missiles. The option award also procures 16 weapon replacement assembly (WRA) 1A(V)4 receiver/processors and 27 WRA2 A(V)4 modulators. Most of the work will occur in Clifton, N.J., and San Jose, Calif., and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
Trident II. The Navy awarded Charles Stark Draper Laboratory a $191 million contract to produce TRIDENT II D5 Strategic Weapon System MK6 Guidance Equivalent Units. The contract includes options that, if awarded, would raise the total value to $392 million. The new Guidance Equivalent Units will help replace obsolete Trident II components while being compatible with other subsystems in the weapon. The work will mostly occur in Cambridge, Mass.; Clearwater, Fla.; and Pittsfield, Mass., and is expected to be finished by July 2022. If the option is exercised, the work will continue until July 2023. FY ’19 Navy weapons procurement funds of $190 million and United Kingdom funds of $1.5 million are being obligated at award time, with none set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. The Navy noted this contract was awarded on a sole-source basis.
LCS-30. Austal USA announced that construction of the future Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Canberra (LCS-30) on Feb. 22 at its facility in Mobile, Ala. Austal won a contract to build LCS-30 along with the future USS Savannah (LCS-28) in 2017. Austal USA has delivered nine LCSs to the Navy so far, with six more now under construction and four awaiting start of construction, following LCS-30.