Mil News USA, Canada & Caribbean Nations Military News & Discussion Thread

[bdpopeye]

Navy Awards Contract for Construction of Two Carriers

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy has awarded a contract for the construction of CVN 80 and CVN 81 to Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS). This contract award delivers significant savings to the government – exceeding $4 billion when compared to the Navy’s original cost estimates to procure these CVNs separately.

“Today marks a great team effort to drive out cost and maximize efficiency in government procurement,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Focusing on optimizing construction activities and material procurement, the team was able to achieve significant savings as compared to individual procurement contracts. One contract for construction of the two ships will enable the shipbuilder flexibility to best employ its skilled workforce to design once and build twice for unprecedented labor reductions while providing stability and opportunities for further efficiencies within the nuclear industrial base.”

In addition to these savings, the contract includes ship integration costs of several modifications required to meet emerging threats including the F-35C Lightning II, MK 38 gun system and MQ-25 Stingray Unmanned Aircraft System. These modifications increase the lethality of the FORD Class, and represent an additional $100 million in savings that is in addition to the $4 billion, since these new capabilities were not included in the original single-CVN Navy estimate. Plus, these new savings associated with new capabilities increases to $200 million if installed in the ship before delivery, in comparison to installing after ship delivery.

This Fixed Price Incentive (Firm Target) (FPIF) contract limits the Navy’s liability and incentivizes the shipyard’s best performance. The contract guarantees a single technical baseline for both ships, which allows the shipyard to re-use engineering rollover products, minimize changes between the two ships and leverage economic order quantities for equipment and material procurement.

ENTERPRISE (CVN 80) is the third ship of the FORD-Class and the numerical replacement for USS EISENHOWER (CVN 69). CVN 81, not yet named, will be the fourth ship of the class and will be the numerical replacement for USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70). CVN 80 began advanced planning and initial long lead time material procurement in May 2016.

 

[AAR Galileo]

The Navy Is Ripping Out Underperforming Anti-Torpedo Torpedoes From Its Supercarriers

The U.S. Navy halted development of an anti-torpedo defense system for its ships last year due to poor performance, including unreliable sensors and interceptor torpedoes, and will remove the prototype systems from five carriers over the next four years. This comes at a time when the service routinely sounds the alarm about growing submarine threats, especially to high-value ships, from potential “great power competitors,” such as Russia and China.

The Navy Is Ripping Out Underperforming Anti-Torpedo Torpedoes From Its Supercarriers

After more than five years of testing, the system still hasn't proven it can reliably spot incoming threats or destroy them.

www.thedrive.com

 

[BravoZulu]

Raytheon systems excel in first test of Ford-class integrated combat system
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the U.S. Navy have successfully completed the first-ever, live fire test of the latest generation of the Ship Self Defense System, or SSDS, Integrated Combat System on the Self Defense Test Ship. The test, conducted for USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first of the Navy's newest class of aircraft carriers, successfully engaged an unmanned aerial vehicle target off the coast of California.
The CVN 78 SSDS Integrated Combat System incorporates several elements including Raytheon's:

• Dual Band Radar: This technology searched for, located and tracked the target. DBR then provided radar illumination to the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile to support missile guidance.
• Cooperative Engagement Capability, or CEC: The capability validated and processed the Dual Band Radar data for SSDS. CEC is responsible for providing a single, integrated air picture, fusing data from multiple sensors to improve track accuracy.
• Ship Self Defense System: SSDS processed the CEC data, determined the appropriate engagement ranges, passed launch commands to the missile, and scheduled Dual Band Radar support for the engagement.
• Evolved SeaSparrow Missile: The interceptor successfully engaged and defeated the target.
• Rolling Airframe Missile: The RAM interceptor was successfully scheduled by SSDS, but not required, since the target was destroyed by the ESSM.

"The design of our Ship Self Defense System enabled seamless integration of the sensors and missiles with the CVN 78 combat system during this first-of-its-kind test, proving the ability of the system to defend our sailors," said Mike Fabel, Raytheon's SSDS program manager. "This integrated combat system success brings Ford [herself] one step closer to operational testing and deployment."
Further integrated combat system live fire events will take place during subsequent developmental and operational testing planned for 2019.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...class-integrated-combat-system-300787032.html

 

[BravoZulu]

U.S. Army to purchase Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system

The U.S. Army will purchase Israeli-made and battle-tested Iron Dome missile defense system, it announced on Wednesday.
The system is meant to protect soldiers from indirect-fire battlefield threats by intercepting and destroying incoming missiles, rockets and other artillery.
Developed by Israel's state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, the system has been a part of the Israeli Air Force strategy of urban protection since 2011.
"The Iron Dome will be assessed and experimented as a system that is currently available to protect deployed U.S. military service members against a wide variety of indirect fire threats and aerial threats," U.S. Army spokesman Col. Patrick Seibert said in a statement. He added that "no decisions have been made regarding the fielding or experimentation of Iron Dome in specific theaters," and that the purchase is meant to "fill a short-term need for an interim indirect fire protection capability."
The transportable system, which takes hours to install, uses radar to identify an incoming target, and fires a missile to neutralize it.
https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/20...-Iron-Dome-anti-missile-system/6401549481773/

 

[BravoZulu]

US Marines eye Australian landing vessel design

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[BravoZulu]

Canadian Surface Combatant contract officially awarded to Type 26 team

The Canadian government has officially signed a contract with Irving Shipbuiding and the BAE Systems-Lockheed Martin team for the construction of Canada’s future surface combatants.
The contract was signed on February 7 after the BAE Systems’ Type 26 Global Combat Ship design was selected in October 2018.
Negotiations between the government and Irving Shipbuilder as prime contractor and the BAE-Lockheed team were completed even as CSC contender Alion Science challenged the decision in federal court.
Alion urged the court to determine whether the Type 26 design met the government’s requirements. One of the reasons for this claim was the fact that the government said only existing designs of ships already in service would be considered. The first Type 26 frigate is still under construction in the UK and is expected to take to the sea in 2023.
Following Alion’s challenge, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal in December 2018 gave the government green light to award the warship contract to BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin.

First Type 26 CSC contract
While the overall project is valued at between CA$56 and $60 billion, the initial contract with Irving Shipbuilding is valued at $185 million (including taxes) and will increase as design work progresses.
Construction on the Canadian Surface Combatants is scheduled to begin in the early 2020s.
Lockheed Martin Canada’s winning bid includes BAE Systems, CAE, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems.
A total of 15 Canadian Surface Combatants will be built to replace Canada’s Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class frigates.
“Our government is providing the Royal Canadian Navy with the ships it needs to do its important work of protecting Canadians,” Carla Qualtrough, minister of public services and procurement and accessibility, commented. “This procurement process for Canada’s future fleet of Canadian Surface Combatants was conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner that yielded the best ship design, and design team, to meet our needs for many years to come.”
https://navaltoday.com/2019/02/08/c...-contract-officially-awarded-to-type-26-team/

 

[AAR Galileo]

US Navy:

Before the Navy's Tragic Fitzgerald Collision, the Crew Faced These Big Problems

A new investigation into a deadly nighttime collision involving a U.S. Navy destroyer heading toward a secret mission in the South China Sea reveals several warning signs leading up to the tragic accident that took seven sailors' lives.
ProPublica, a nonprofit that produces investigative journalism, published a series of reports this week on the destroyer Fitzgerald's June 2017 collision with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan. Titled "Fight the ship: Death and valor on a warship doomed by its own Navy," the report reveals multiple troubling mistakes made by Navy leaders, some of which were previously undisclosed.

Before the Navy's Tragic Fitzgerald Collision, the Crew Faced These Big Problems

A report on the USS Fitzgerald's 2017 collision with a cargo ship in the South China Sea reveals several warning signs.

www.military.com

 

[BravoZulu]

Canada:
There seems to be some revisionism underway in the Canadian Army about the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) program as well as changes to the role of the wheeled vehicle.

When it was originally announced part of the stated goal of the TAPV was to take on the role of reconnaissance, with 193 of the vehicles being a reconnaissance variant that would replace the Army’s Coyote vehicle. The remaining 307 TAPVs would serve as armoured personnel carriers for battlefield troop transportation, according to the Army.

In addition, the $1.2 billion project, when it was announced in 2012, was clearly part of the Conservative government’s defence program (The original TAPV plans also emerged under the Conservatives in 2008/2009).

The situation has changed in the meantime. The Army says it is expanding the role of the vehicle. The TAPV is being assigned to headquarters and military police units for use as protected and mobile transport. It will be used as well for command and control, VIP transport and patrolling.

As for the more sophisticated reconnaissance capability fielded by the Coyotes, the Army notes that it has the new LAV 6 and its Reconnaissance Surveillance System (LRSS) Project.

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[BravoZulu]

Canada:
Two Australian F/A-18A Hornets arrived in Canada on Saturday.

The two Hornets are the first of up to 25 aircraft that will be sold to Canada along with spares and support equipment. The Canadian government acquired the 30-year old jets in order of filling a capability gap affecting the Royal Canadian Airforce’s ability to simultaneously meet NORAD and NATO obligations.

Originally, Canada had intended to supplement its fleet of 85 Boeing CF(F/A)-18 A/B fighters with 18 new Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets. This plan was cancelled in favour of the Australian Hornets when Boeing accused Canada’s Bombardier of receiving unfair subsidies from Ottawa.

Before the aircraft can be integrated into the Canadian fleet of CF-188 Hornets, they will undergo several modifications in Mirabel, Quebec. They have to be brought to the same operational configuration as the Canadian CF-188 Hornets. This means cockpit and communications upgrades, a night vision imaging system, a sniper targeting pod, landing gear modifications, a new ejection seat as well as the Air Force paint scheme.

 

[bdpopeye]

F-35A opposed the most advanced weapons systems during exercise Red Flag 19-1

The F-35A, America’s most advanced multi-role fighters actively opposed combinations of the most advanced weapons systems out there, meant to replicate near-peer enemies in a large scale conflict during exercise Red Flag 19-1 at Nelllis Air Force Base.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Air Force statement, the 4th Fighter Squadron integrated the F-35A into a large, capable “Blue Force” in diverse missions against an equally capable “Red Force.” Nearly 3,000 personnel from 39 separate units participated in the exercise, including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force.

During exercises, the F-35A multi-role fighters, which brings game-changing stealth, lethality and interoperability to the modern battlefield have faced Red Force’s hybrid threats, combinations of the most advanced weapons systems out there, meant to replicate near-peer enemies in a large scale conflict. The shift closely aligns with the National Defense Strategy.

Red Flag aggressors encompass the whole spectrum of an adversary force – advanced integrated air-defense systems, an adversary air force, cyber-warfare and information operations. Because of these diverse capabilities, many Red Flag missions are flown in “contested or denied” environments with active electronic attack, communications jamming, and GPS denial.

“Those situations highlight the fifth-generation capabilities of the F-35. We’re still able to operate and be successful. In a lot of cases we have a large role as an integrated quarterback,” said Lt. Col. Yosef Morris, 4th FS commander. “Our ability to continue to fuse and pass information to the entire package makes every aircraft more survivable.”

During the first week of Red Flag, the F-35 pilots flew in a larger force of Blue Air in a counter-air mission. More than 60 aggressor aircraft were flying against them, blinding many of the fourth-generation aircraft with “robust” electronic attack capabilities.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Wood said. “This is not a mission you want a young pilot flying in. My wingman was a brand new F-35A pilot, seven or eight flights out of training. He gets on the radio and tells an experienced, 3,000-hour pilot in a very capable fourth-generation aircraft. ‘Hey bud, you need to turn around. You’re about to die. There’s a threat off your nose.’”

The young pilot then “killed” the enemy aircraft and had three more kills in the hour-long mission.

“Even in this extremely challenging environment, the F-35 didn’t have many difficulties doing its job,” Wood said. ‘That’s a testament to the pilot’s training and the capabilities of the jet.”

One of the most valuable things about this exercise for the 4th FS is the experience it provided younger pilots flying combat missions as part of an integrated force. Thirteen pilots in the squadron have never flown the F-35 in Red Flag, and four of them just graduated pilot training.

“They say it’s the most realistic thing to combat,” said 1st Lt. Landon Moores, a new F-35A pilot. “It’s been pretty intense.”

Red Flag is not a rolling campaign. It is made up of different scenarios that increase in difficulty as the weeks go on. This allows the integrated force to learn how best to capitalize on the strengths and protect the weaknesses of each platform in very specific mission sets.

“With stealth, the F-35 can get closer to threats than many other aircraft can. Combined with the performance of the fused sensors on the F-35, we can significantly contribute to the majority of the missions,” Morris said.

The missions aren’t just 90-minute flights. They require 12-hours of intense planning the day prior, a two hour pre-brief, and then several hours of debriefing after the mission – dissecting the outcome and looking for ways to improve.

“It’s not like we just come back and high-five if we’re successful,” Morris said. “Could we have done better? Did we have all the resources we needed? Often the brief and debrief is the most valuable part of Red Flag, especially for younger pilots.”

The squadron brought 12 aircraft and more than 200 Airmen to the three-week exercise – pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, weapons crews, and support personnel, including reservists from the 419th Fighter Wing. Maintainers didn’t lose a single sortie to a maintenance ground-abort and had spare aircraft available for every mission.

“As this aircraft matures, we continue to see it be a significant force-multiplier in a threat-dense environment,” Morris said. “Red Flag was a success for us and has made our younger pilots more lethal and more confident.”

 

[BravoZulu]

USMC:
The Marine Corps has put the Amphibious Combat Vehicle through its paces in the eight months since the service selected BAE Systems to build the new wheeled vehicles, using the original 16 ACVs to conduct high surf testing and cold weather/cold water testing around the country.

The vehicle has performed so well in these tests that the service is officially ditching the original plan to gradually insert the full ship-to-shore swim capability – that robust in-water performance was not required in the original ACV 1.1 and would instead be introduced in a later 1.2 increment – and has instead certified that these first vehicles can perform all ship-to-shore missions without assistance from a connector.

BAE Systems is expected to deliver the first vehicles to the Marine Corps in late May or early June, after winning the program in June and being awarded a second Lot 2 contract in December. Even as the York, Pa., production line is churning, the Marines haven’t wasted any time learning more about the vehicles or beginning to train Marines how to operate them, Col. Kirk Mullins, ACV product manager, told USNI News.

 

[bdpopeye]

House Seapower chairman: Early aircraft carrier decom is a non-starter

The head of the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower subcommittee told Defense News Thursday he would block the early decommissioning of the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman when it comes before congress this spring.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., told reporters he there was no chance the measure would be endorsed in his subcommittee this year during the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act markup.

“This is really a 2021 issue in terms of timing, when the Truman has to go into its refueling,” Courtney said. “So I think in terms of it getting any endorsement in the seapower mark this year I think is zero.”

Courtney’s comments come on the heels of a Breaking Defense report that the Pentagon was planning to cancel the Truman’s planned 2024 mid-life refueling and decommission the carrier in an effort to save $30 billion over 25 years. The Navy has to plan for major carrier midlife overhauls years in advance. If the Navy were going to cancel Truman’s overhaul, the service would have to make the decision soon.

But the Truman is too young to pull out of service, Courtney said.

“The Truman is only about 25 years old which in [terms of] an aircraft carrier is actually pretty young,” he said. "So, we just approved a two-carrier block buy in September. So to do that and then reduce the size of the carrier fleet seems like a contradictory policy, as far as I’m concerned."

Back to the future

This is the second time in the past decade the Navy has tried to cancel a mid-life reactor refueling.

During the Obama administration, the Navy tried to decommission the carrier George Washington when it returned from its forward deployed status in Japan. That effort died after the White House backed down from the plan in 2014.

The proposal came about as a result of across-the-board spending cuts in 2013 mandated by the Budget Control Act.

 

[BravoZulu]

US:
The Littoral Combat Ship USS Charleston (LCS-18) officially joined the fleet during a Saturday commissioning ceremony in downtown Charleston, S.C.
“USS Charleston is proof of what the teamwork of all of our people — civilian, contractor and military — can accomplish together,” Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said in a statement. “This ship will extend the maneuverability and lethality of our fleet to confront the many challenges of a complex world, from maintaining the sea lanes to countering instability to maintaining our edge against renewed great power competition.”
The Independence-class Charleston is the 16th LCS to join the fleet and is scheduled to be homeported in San Diego, Calif.
The Navy plans to build 34 LCS before shifting to its surface combatant priority, the future frigate program, USNI News previously reported. The Navy still has one LCS contract to award.

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https://news.usni.org/2019/03/03/uss-charleston-join-fleet-saturday-morning

 

[BravoZulu]

The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $322.5 million contract for the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) program.
AARGM-ER program is leveraging the AARGM that is currently in production.
The extended range version will be integrated on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft and configured for internal carriage on the F-35 Lightning II.
“AARGM-ER extended range coupled with AARGM lethality will meet a critical defense suppression requirement while protecting our strike aviators,” said Cary Ralston, vice president, defense electronic systems, Northrop Grumman.
AARGM is an air-launched missile with the capability to rapidly engage air-defense threats. AARGM is currently deployed with the US Navy and U.S. Marine Corps on the F/A-18C/D Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft. AARGM is also integrated on the Italian Air Force’s Tornado Electronic Combat aircraft.

https://navaltoday.com/2019/03/11/northrop-gets-322-5m-for-aargm-er-work/

 

[BravoZulu]

USAF:
The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $250,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Long Range Stand-Off Cruise Missile weapon system integration.
This contract provides for aircraft and missile carriage equipment development and modification, engineering, testing, software development, training, facilities, and support necessary to fully integrate the Long Range Stand-Off Cruise Missile on the B-52H bomber platform.
Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2024.
This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $6,343,893 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity
https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1784315/

 

[BravoZulu]

USAF:
The Pentagon’s decision to add new F-15EXs to its budget request for the Air Force, a move not requested by the service itself, was based on a lack of capability and capacity of the current fleet and the presumptive cheaper cost of the Eagles, the military’s top uniformed officer told lawmakers on Thursday.
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 budget request includes about $1 billion for eight F-15EX “advanced Eagles,” a decision that stemmed from former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee the “framework” of the decision came from a study of the future needs of the military’s tactical aircraft fleet, which showed the Air Force had a shortage in its number of aircraft and the amount of ordnance those aircraft could carry.
"Then they had the F-15C, which was aging out in the 2027-2028 period," he said "So, within the next five or 10 years the best solution was to go to the F-15, called the EX, platform to backfill the F-15. Eventually we’ll get to an all F-35 program, but from both a cost perspective and a capability perspective, this particular mix of aircraft for the near term was determined to be the right mix of aircraft.”
The F-15EX initially would only be “slightly” cheaper to buy than a new F-35, it will be more than 50 percent cheaper than the Joint Strike Fighter to operate over its life. Additionally, it has “twice as many hours” in terms of how long it lasts.
The Air Force’s five-year Future Years Defense Plan calls for buying 80 of the F-15EXs, though the ultimate buy could be as many as 144. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said before the budget was released the F-15s were inserted into the budget by entities outside the Air Force, and the service instead preferred to buy more F-35s.
“The primary aircraft of the future for the Air Force is the F-35, and they’re not walking back off that program,” Dunford said.

http://www.airforcemag.com/Features...s-F-35-Capacity-and-Capability-Shortfall.aspx

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
The US Navy awarded General Dynamics a $2 billion contract modification to provide additional materials required to build the Virginia Class submarines from fiscal 2019 through fiscal 2023.
The deal includes additional Long Lead Time Material and Economic Ordering Quantity items for SSN-802 to SSN-811 underwater vessels.
The SSNs 802 -811 Virginia Class submarine hull numbers have not been named yet.
The Virginia Class is the Navy’s newest undersea warfare platform. Attack submarines are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships, project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces, carry out Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, support battle group operations, and engage in mine warfare.
The modification falls under a previously awarded sole-source contract. General Dynamics is the lead contractor of the Virginia Class submarine program.
In February 2017, General Dynamics won an initial $126.5 million contract by the US Navy for long lead time material for the first two Block V Virginia Class submarines, SSN-802 and SSN-803. The Block V submarines built from 2019 onward will have an additional Virginia Payload Module (VPM) mid-body section, increasing their overall length.
Work under the contract modification will take place within the USA.

Virginia Block III: The Revised Bow - Defense Industry Daily

Virginia Block I-II (click for SuperSize) "GDEB Receives $148M as Virginia Class Lead Yard" described changes to the Virginia Class submarine's design that are expected to reach 20% of the $200 million savings goal by the time orders for the versatile sea attack/ land attack/ special forces...

www.defenseindustrydaily.com

 

[BravoZulu]

Utah man, a former federal intelligence officer, pleads guilty to trying to give classified military information to China
A Utah man who once served as a case officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency has pleaded guilty to trying to spy on the United States on behalf of China.
As part of the plea agreement, Syracuse resident Ron Rockwell Hansen, 59, will likely spend 15 years in federal prison, according to a news release from Utah’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Hansen worked with the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2000 to 2006 when he was a warrant officer in the Army. After leaving the Army in 2006, he was hired by the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he learned to speak both Mandarin-Chinese and Russian fluently as part of his training. He quit the job less than a year after he was hired to work for Salt Lake City-based H-11 Digital Forensics, a cybersecurity firm run by his brother Jon.
Chinese intelligence officials, Hansen said, targeted him in 2014. He then began meeting regularly with Chinese agents, according to the release. After his arrest, Hansen told prosecutors that Chinese agents had paid him thousands of dollars for information over the years.
As part of his espionage directive Hansen tried to solicit information from a Defense Intelligence Agency case officer between May 2016 and June 2018. He taught the case officer how to clandestinely record and transmit classified information to him, and he planned to sell it to China.
That officer reported Hansen’s request to the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the FBI started investigating. According to court documents, the FBI was already suspicious of Hansen because the agency knew he had previously tried to get access to classified information.
In March 2018, Hansen forwarded information requests from Chinese agents to the Defense Intelligence Agency case officers.
The Chinese agents wanted the “China ops plan" — the U.S. military’s operation plan regarding potential military intervention with China — and would pay up to $200,000 for it, Hansen said, according to court documents.
On June 2, 2018, Hansen met with the officer, now a secret source for the FBI investigation, and got the classified documents just before he was scheduled to fly to China. He was arrested that same day on his way to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Although Hansen was initially charged with 15 counts related to the espionage, he only pleaded guilty to the first charge — attempt to gather or deliver defense information. Federal prosecutors plan to ask the court to dismiss the remaining counts, which include a single charge of structuring monetary transactions and acting as an agent of a foreign government, three counts of bulk cash smuggling, eight counts of structuring monetary transactions and two counts of smuggling goods from the U.S.
Hansen’s plea agreement included a stipulated sentence of 15 years, although the court must approve the prison time. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced Sept. 24.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/03..._term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief

 

[BravoZulu]

USA:
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is awarded $326,295,367 for cost-plus-fixed-fee Delivery Order 2005 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001) to develop, integrate and test Increment 3 Block capabilities into the P-8A aircraft for the Navy and the government of Australia.
Work will be performed in Puget Sound, Washington (86.9 percent); Greenlawn, New York (6.7 percent); Rockford, Illinois (2.6 percent); Rancho Santa Margarita, California (1.6 percent); Patuxent River, Maryland (1 percent); Mesa, Arizona (0.8 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (0.3 percent); and Jacksonville, Florida (0.1 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2024.
Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,442,320; and Cooperative Engagement Agreement funds in the amount of $19,200,000 are being obligated on this 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.
https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1789590/

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
The Navy awarded Boeing a $4 billion multi-year contract modification to build 78 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters, according to a Wednesday Pentagon contract announcement.
The contract modification covers the production and delivery of aircraft between Fiscal Years 2019 and 2021. Boeing estimates the multi-year contract modification will save the Navy $395 million.
“A multiyear contract helps the F/A-18 team seek out suppliers with a guaranteed three years of production, instead of negotiating year to year,” Dan Gillian, Boeing’s vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18G programs, said in a statement.
Four years ago, Boeing executives were evaluating whether to shutter the entire Super Hornet production line. The Navy’s FY 2016 budget request did not include funding to purchase Super Hornet, though the Navy’s unfunded priorities list that year did include a desire to purchase more Super Hornets to begin replacing the fleet of legacy F/A-18A-D strike fighters that were wearing out faster than anticipated.
The Navy has since renewed its dedication to buying more Super Hornets. The Navy’s current five-year purchase plan – of which the new multi-year award is part – calls for buying 110 Super Hornets, according to Boeing.

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/21/42021