Saturday, August 4, 2018

Week in review (7/29 to 8/4)

For my readers who follow the space program, you'll be interested to know Aerojet Rocketdyne is now assembling the new components of the modified RS-25 rocket engines that will power future Space Launch System (SLS) launches. The RS-25 program is primarily based out of its Canoga Park facility in the Los Angeles area, where most of the engineering and production of the engines is done, but it also involves Stennis Space Center (SSC), Miss., which will test all those engines.

The company plans to deliver all the flight engines to NASA by July, 2024. The new engines are due to begin flying on the fifth SLS launch. The first four launches will be powered by the 16 engines left over from the Space Shuttle era. Those engines, like the new ones, are modified from their Space Shuttle configurations to operate at a higher power level and more severe thermal environment. Those engines went through extensive ground testing from early 2015 through late 2017.

Changes to the engine design will be certified in part during dozens of ground test firings at SSC. The first production restart test series, called “Retrofit 1a,” was completed in late February. That series demonstrated the first major production restart component, the pogo accumulator assembly. Those units are now built using a 3-D printing technique.

The upcoming Retrofit 1b test series is slated to start in the A-1 test stand at SSC this month. (Post)

We also had a space-related contract awarded during the week to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif. The company was awarded a $32 million modification to a contract for Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Satellite Vehicle 4 (SV 4).

The contract modification is to implement SV 4 operational resiliency phase one for the AEHF. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2021. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity.

The connection to our region? The core propulsion subsystem work the AEHF is done by Lockheed Martin at SSC. (Post)


F-35 contracts
There were three contracts awarded to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., of Fort Worth, Texas, for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. In all three the Naval Air Systems Command of Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. I highlight these contracts because Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home to the F-35 integrated training center.

In one contract, Lockheed was awarded a $171.7 million modification to a previously awarded F-35 low rate initial production Lot 11 contract. This modification authorizes the procurement of diminishing manufacturing sources redesign activities in support of the F-35 Lightning II air system.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in January 2024. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force (39.99 percent); Navy (19.99 percent); Marine Corps (19.99 percent); and international partners (20.03 percent). (Post)

In another contract, the company was awarded $16.2 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification provides for Phase 3 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Verification Simulation (VSim) / F-35 In-a-Box (FIAB) delivery of updates to the FIAB software model.

In addition, this modification provides continued FIAB software model development, integration, validation, verification and support. Work will be performed in Texas, Maryland and Georgia and is expected to be completed in April 2019. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force (65 percent); and Navy (35 percent). (Post)

In the third contract, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. was awarded a $7.8 million modification to a previously issued order issued against a basic ordering agreement. This modification provides for support for first of class flying trials and release of the military permit to fly for F-35B in support of the government of the United Kingdom.

Work will be performed in the United Kingdom, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Maryland and is expected to be completed in June 2020. (Post)


Other contracts
Booz Allen Hamilton
, McLean, Va.; CACI Inc. – Federal, Chantilly, Va.; Deloitte & Touche LLP, Arlington, Va.; Systems Planning and Analysis Inc., Alexandria, Va.; and Whitney, Bradley & Brown Inc., Reston, Va., were awarded an estimated $68.6 million multiple award contracts that will include terms and conditions for the placement of both cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders to provide contractor support of strategic assessment and planning; manpower assessment; planning and programming analysis support; financial program management; manpower, personnel, training and education program and policy assessment and management; and quantitative analysis, forecasting, performance assessment, and research, development, test and evaluation program management support in support of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (DCNO) manpower, personnel, training and education domain comprised of the DCNO, the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Personnel Command, the Navy Manpower Analysis Center, Commander Naval Education and Training, and Commander Navy Recruiting Command. Work will be performed in Millington, Tenn. (50 percent); Arlington, Va. (30 percent); Pensacola, Fla. (10 percent); various locations throughout the continental U.S. (8 percent); and various contractor facilitates (2 percent). Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity. … Applied Research Associates, Albuquerque, N.M., was awarded a $48.7 million contract for Joint Munitions Weapons Effectiveness Manuals and a $4,024,270 task order. The contract provides for software development and training. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Air Force Test Center, Eglin Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. … Titan Facility Services, Gilbert, Ariz., was awarded a $9.4 million contract for Healthcare Aseptic Management Services. Work will be performed at Altus Air Force Base, Okla.; Vance AFB, Okla.; Tinker AFB, Okla.; Barksdale AFB, La.; Columbus AFB, Miss.; Eglin AFB, Fla.; Hurlburt Field, Fla.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; Patrick AFB, Fla.; Tyndall AFB, Fla.; Keesler AFB, Miss.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; Moody AFB, Ga.; Robins AFB, Ga.; Charleston AFB, S.C.; and Shaw AFB, S.C.. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. … Radiance Technologies Inc., Huntsville, Ala., was awarded a $19.8 million contract for Small Business Cyber Security Operations Center (SB-CSOC). Work will be performed in Baton Rouge, La., and is expected to be completed by July 29, 2021. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, N.Y., is the contracting activity.


Previous week
I didn’t have a column last week, but there were two contracts that I’d like to mention now. One was for the National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage at NASA’s SSC in South Mississippi, and the other was related to the F-35.

NASA awarded a contract to COLSA Corp. of Huntsville, Ala., to provide facility operations support services to the center. The National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage (NCCIPS), is a federal shared services data center managed by the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) at SSC.

NCCIPS Version Two is a firm, fixed price contract that began Aug. 1 with a 60-day phase-in period, followed by a one-year base period, four one-year options and three one-year award term options. The potential total value of the contract is about $107.4 million.

COLSA will be responsible for secure facility operations, maintenance, management, environmental analysis, energy management, information technology, system power, and network integration in support of NCCIPS. (Post)

NCCIPS supports data center requirements of federal agencies and manages those relationships via Interagency Agreements. It’s a 200,000-square-foot secure facility situated on a 64 acre campus at SSC.

NCCIPS was created as a result of a 2005 Congressional initiative to provide secure processing and storage of nationally sensitive, critical, or classified data. It offers federal agencies collocation services from a state-of-the-art data center. Each NCCIPS customer pays only an apportioned share of the actual data center operations and maintenance cost based on each customer's footprint in the data center.

In another contract, United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $24.6 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification provides for the procurement of F135 Low-Rate Initial Production 9 non-annualized sustainment support equipment and associated labor for depot activation outside the continental U.S. to include support equipment fleet modernization in support of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and non-Department of Defense participants.

Work will be performed in East Hartford (90 percent); and Indianapolis, Ind. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2021. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force (1 percent); Marine Corps (0.5 percent); Navy (0.3 percent); FMS (0.2 percent); and non-DoD participants (98 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Post)

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