US Sailors prepare to load a Tomahawk cruise missile onto the guided-missile submarine Michigan. (US Navy)

Aug. 28, 2013 - By JOHN T. BENNETT – Defense News

Defense Giant's Tomahawk Missile Poised for Leading Role

WASHINGTON — Analysts say US defense giant Raytheon’s recent stock price uptick should continue for some time, with its Tomahawk cruise missile poised to star in America’s next likely military operation.

The Raytheon-made cruise missile is loaded on US Navy ships positioned within striking distance of Syrian military targets. The White House is reportedly readying plans for limited military strikes to punish Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for a deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack.

Raytheon’s stock was trading well over $75 per share as of mid-afternoon on Wednesday, up from $71 per share just a few weeks ago.

What changed?

US President Barack Obama and his national security aides decided Assad’s latest alleged use of chemical arms violated the “red line” he established last summer. Once it became clear Obama opposes inserting ground troops and prefers pounding Syrian targets from afar to punish Assad, the Tomahawk and its manufacturer became the darling of Wall Street.

Obama’s shift from the Syrian sidelines to readying to strike sent Raytheon’s stock to a 52-week high of $77.93 this week. The price fell to around $75.25 near Tuesday’s closing bell, before climbing again on Wednesday.

Those prices are well above the stock’s six-month (just under $55 a share) and 12-month ($52.24) lows. The price fluctuated between $55 and $60 from March to late April, climbing to nearly $65 by late May. It hovered around $65.50 during June and for much of July, then began a slow climb toward current levels.

Analysts say there are many reasons the stock is suddenly more popular on “The Street.”

“Tomahawk is once again proving to be the ideal weapon for a measured response to aggression,” said Loren Thompson, a defense industry analyst and consultant.

“But the Navy needs to greatly increase the number of cruise missiles in its inventory so it can cope with protracted contingencies,” the Lexington Institute COO said on Wednesday. “That raised the prospect of new sales for Raytheon.”

Lawrence Korb, a former Pentagon official now with the Center for American Progress, said Raytheon’s stock price began to climb “once people began saying, ‘We weren’t going to send in ground troops but we are going to do something.’ ”

“It became pretty clear that meant cruise missile strikes,” Korb said. “That means the Tomahawk. And if you’re going to shoot a whole bunch of them, you’re going to have to buy more.”

29.08.2013 à 01h31 Le Monde.fr (AFP)

Alors que le monde entier spécule sur l'éventualité d'une intervention occidentale en Syrie, Barack Obama a affirmé mercredi 28 août qu'il n'avait pas encore pris de décision sur la réaction américaine à l'utilisation d'armes chimiques par le régime syrien. Dans un entretien à la télévision publique PBS – ses premiers commentaires publics depuis vendredi dernier sur ce dossier – Barack Obama a expliqué que la réaction américaine, quelle qu'elle soit, serait de toutes façons destinée à dissuader le régime de recommencer une attaque chimique.

Pendant le week-end, alors qu'émergeaient les détails de l'attaque qui aurait fait plusieurs centaines de morts, les Etats-Unis ont considérablement durci le ton contre la Syrie, au point qu'une intervention armée – comme des tirs de missiles de croisière contre des équipements ou symboles du pouvoir de Bachar al-Assad – semblent désormais probables à court terme. Le président Obama a toutefois rejeté l'idée d'une intervention américaine destinée à appuyer la rébellion, alors que le pouvoir syrien est en butte à une révolte populaire déclenchée début 2011. Cette dernière s'est militarisée et a dégénéré en guerre civile qui a fait plus de 100 000 morts, selon l'ONU.

Suite de l’article

Aug 28, 2013 by Dave Majumdar – FG

Washington DC - Boeing has unveiled an F/A-18F Super Hornet demonstrator aircraft fitted with a number of enhancements designed to improve its stealth capability and range.

Shown at its factory in St Louis, Missouri, the modifications to the baseline aircraft include the addition of prototype conformal fuel tanks (CFT), an enclosed weapons pod and new radar cross-section treatments.

"It feels the same to the pilot," says Ricardo Traven, Boeing's chief test pilot for the type, describing the flight characteristics of the twin-engined strike fighter when equipped with the prototype 680kg (1,500lb) CFTs and 930kg weapons pod.

That was one of the goals of the effort, says Paul Summers, Boeing's F/A-18E/F and EA-18G programme director. The CFTs produce no drag at subsonic cruise speeds up to Mach 0.84, he says. In fact, at M0.6, the CFTs actually produce less drag than a clean aircraft.

Drag does rise at supersonic speeds, says Mike Gibbons, Boeing's vice-president for the F/A-18 and EA-18G, but only to a level comparable with that of a single 1,817litre (480USgal) centerline drop tank.

The prototype tanks fitted to the test aircraft, which Boeing is leasing from the US Navy, are aerodynamically representative, but are non-functional. The production version will weigh 395kg and carry 1,588kg (3,500lb) of fuel, Summers says, boosting range by 260nm (481km).

Like the conformal tanks, the prototype weapons pod is also an aerodynamically representative shape, but is non-functional. Boeing has performed windtunnel tests with the pod's doors open up to speeds of M1.6, it says.

An operational version of the weapons pod is expected to weigh roughly 408kg and hold 1,134kg of munitions. But despite its large payload, it will have roughly the same drag profile as a centerline drop tank, Summers says.

The modified Super Hornet boasts a 50% improvement in its low-observable signature. While not an all-aspect stealth aircraft, Gibbons says the enhancements will greatly improve the Super Hornet's already low frontal radar cross-section.

While it will not equate to a dedicated stealth fighter, it will be "good enough" for most of the navy's future missions in contested airspace, he says.

Summers says the prototype-equipped fighter has flown 15 flights, accumulating 25h. Nine additional flights are planned, which are anticipated to amass a further 14h.

Efforts are also under way to integrate an internal infrared search and track system on to the Super Hornet and to boost engine power on the jet's General Electric F414s by 20%.

The potential benefits of the Boeing-led efforts have not been lost on the navy. Earlier this year, Capt Frank Morley, the Naval Air Systems Command F/A-18 programme manager, told reporters that both his command and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations are supporting the Boeing effort.

In fact, according to Boeing officials, the electronic warfare EA-18G might benefit more from the modifications than the regular Super Hornet.

Boeing estimates it could bring the modifications to market for a development cost of $1 billion by the end of the decade, if the service signs a contract relatively quickly.

Production aircraft would cost roughly 10% more than a current Block II Super Hornet.

Aug. 28, 2013 Defense News (AFP)

JERUDONG, BRUNEI — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that he opposes cutting off US military aid to Egypt but vowed Washington would keep pressing for “reconciliation” in the country.

The United States earlier this month condemned Egyptian security forces for firing on protesters backing ousted president Mohamed Morsi in a crackdown that left nearly 1,000 people dead.

“The interim government has to get back on the path to reconciliation, stop the violence, put Egypt back on the path of economic, democratic reform,” Hagel said in an interview with the BBC aired Wednesday.

“Now do you do that best by cutting off all aid?

“Maybe eventually that happens, but I don’t think you can take that approach initially; you have to respond, and we’ve made it clear what we’d like to see happen,” said Hagel, in Brunei for a meeting of regional defense ministers.

Hagel did not rule out eventually shutting off the flow of $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Cairo, but he stressed the importance of maintaining the decades-long alliance with Egypt, calling it a source of stability that had reinforced US interests.

“We’ve had strong partnerships with Egypt for many years starting with the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that the US brokered in 1979 that essentially prevented the region from breaking out into a regional war,” he said.

“Egypt has played a responsible part of that, been a very responsible partner.”

The United States “wouldn’t necessarily agree with the forms of government, the dictatorships, but... we would not want to see the disintegration of a relationship with a large important country like Egypt,” he said.

Echoing similar remarks he made earlier this month, Hagel said America’s influence with Egypt had limits.

“So we’ve tried to help where we can, within the boundaries where we can affect influence where we can,” Hagel said. “You can’t go in and impose. It’s up to the Egyptian people what kind of future they want and what kind of government they want.

Aug. 28, 2013 - By JOHN T. BENNETT – Defense News

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s march to war in Syria is exposing a new fissures in the Republican Party, with its members splitting over whether the United States should intervene militarily.

President Barack Obama could order Tomahawk missile strikes on Syrian targets at any moment, but GOP members’ reactions to the simmering conflict have put the party’s isolationists and interventionists on opposite sides.

The factions of the party agree with the White House’s determination that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used chemical weapons in a deadly Aug. 21 attack. But that’s where members head to different sides of the party’s famed “big tent.”

The Skeptics

In one corner are Republican lawmakers who appear skeptical that an American military mission in Syria is in Washington’s interests. This group also is warning that US action could cause further instability in the always-chaotic Middle East.

“The United States has deep national security interests in Syria and the region,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif.

But Royce also warned that “any US military action could bring serious consequences or further escalation.”

Libertarian GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has become a thorn in the side of both Obama and his party’s hawks, on Monday said the administration “is right that Assad using chemical weapons is an outrage, and it is wrong.”

But Cruz sees something “missing” in the White House’s publicly stated reasons for the expected strikes.

“Unfortunately missing from … the president’s approach so far has been a focus on what the touchstone should be, which is the vital US national security interest of this country,” Cruz said. “The United States armed forces is not, doesn’t exist to be a policeman for the world.

Cruz, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, also is warning that “simply lobbing some cruise missiles in to disagree with Assad’s murderous actions” would not equal “protecting our national security.”

Another libertarian-leaning GOP lawmaker, Michigan’s Justin Amash, opposes a Syrian military intervention on legal grounds.

Amash posted this on his Twitter page Monday: “War Powers Resolution is consistent w/Constitution: Pres can take unilateral action only pursuant to nat’l emergency.”

He has since tweeted quotes from Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden from 2007, when they argued a president can authorize a military strike without congressional approval only if an imminent threat to the US exists. Amash says no such threat is evident with Assad’s forces in Syria.

“Obama ‘07: ‘Pres does not have power ... to unilaterally authorize military attack ... that does not involve stopping actual or imminent threat,’” Amash tweeted this week, followed later by: “Biden ‘07: ‘Founding Fathers vested in Congress, not Pres, power to initiate war, except to repel imminent attack on U.S. or its citizens.’”

War Drummers

In another corner of the GOP tent, members are pounding the drums of war.

John McCain, R-Ariz., a longtime Senate Armed Services Committee leader, took to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program Wednesday to deliver a full-throated call for strikes that go beyond what the Obama administration reportedly is mulling.

Experts predict the coming missile and air strikes likely will target Assad’s command and control capabilities, chemical-weapons delivery units and platforms, air-defense systems, and other military targets.

The idea is to punish Assad and send a message. But the goal will not be to remove him from office, according to the White House.

“I want to make clear that the options that we are considering are not about regime change,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday. “They are about responding to a clear violation of an international standard that prohibits the use of chemical weapons.”

McCain said Wednesday morning that the Obama administration should be preparing war plans for strikes that would drive Assad from office.

The leader of the Senate’s “Three Amigos” pointed to Obama’s repeated declarations that Assad cannot remain in power after leading a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of Syrians and driven others to refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Also in the McCain group are lawmakers such as Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who support strikes but want them limited to Tomahawk missile launches.

“I think you’re [going to] see a surgical, proportional strike against the Assad regime for what they have done,” Corker said this week. “And I support that. … With the use of chemical warfare, I think we have to act. And I think we’ll do so, again, in a very surgical, proportional way.””

This is where Corker breaks with McCain.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member, who has been briefed by the White House, wants a limited response that avoids another protracted ground operation in a Middle Eastern nation where violence from al-Qaida and sectarian conflict could break out — thereby dramatically increasing the amount of blood and treasure America would have to expend.

“I do not want us, though, to move into a situation where we’re moving beyond supporting the moderate, vetted opposition on the ground,” Corker said. “I do think Syrians need to be the ones to deal with this issue.”

Resigned to War

Finally, a third group appears almost resigned to war’s inevitability.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., on Monday endorsed a US military intervention.

But he did not do so without questioning Obama’s logic. Essentially, McKeon is asking: Why did Obama issue his now-infamous “red line” warning to Assad over the use of chemical arms if he did not already know how he would enforce it?

Once that kind of line was set, this group said this week, Obama might have made war inevitable.

“Now that American credibility is on the line,” McKeon said, “the president cannot fail to act decisively.”

Sounding a similar tone this week is former House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King, R-N.Y.

“Once that red line has been crossed and once chemical weapons have been used,” King said, “I believe the president has to take action.”

27 August 2013 airforce-technology.com

Kaman's Aerospace segment has secured a contract modification for the supply of additional joint programmable fuses (JPF) to the US Air Force (USAF).

Valued at $8.6m, the contract represents a follow-on award under Option 10 of the company's JPF contract with the air force and brings the total contract value to approximately $78.6m.

Kaman Aerospace Group president Greg Steiner said the contract further strengthens the company's largest single programme by increasing JPF backlog to more than $150m and extending it into 2015.

''The order demonstrates the USAF's fuzing requirements and commitment to the programme," Steiner said.

"The contract represents a follow-on award under Option 10 of the company's JPF contract with the air force and brings the total contract value to approximately $78.6m."

Awarded by USAF earlier this month, the $70m Option 10 contract also features one more option, which, if exercised, will raise the total value and also extend the performance period through the middle of 2017.

Claimed to be the USAF's current bomb fuze of choice, JPF is an electro-mechanical bomb safing and arming device designed to allow the settings of a weapon to be programmed in flight.

The fuse is currently used with an array of weapons, including general purpose bombs and guided bombs that use joint direct attack munitions (JDAM), or Paveway kits, as well as several USAF aircraft, such as the F-15 Silent Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, A-10 Thunderbolt, B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress and the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Other international aircraft using the fuze, which is manufactured at Kaman's facilities in Florida and Connecticut, US, include the Mirage 3 and JAS 39 Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft.

Contract deliveries are expected to start in 2015.

Besides serving as the JPF's sole provider to the USAF since 2002, Kaman also provides the bomb fuse to 23 other countries worldwide.

US Navy's F-35C aircraft performing in-flight refuelling task. Photo Lockheed Martin.

28 August 2013 naval-technology.com

The US Navy's F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF) carrier variant (CV) aircraft has successfully conducted the first in-flight refuelling trials with a US Air Force's (USAF) KC-135 aircraft at an undisclosed location.

During the testing, the aircraft, also known as CF-1, successfully refuelled with a USAF's Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft.

After completing this testing, the aircraft now joins the A and B models in proving that all three variants of the F-35 are capable of refuelling from a common tanker platform, despite their different methods.

The US Navy's first F-35C Lightning II carrier variant aircraft squadron, the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 completed the F-35C first flight test at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, US.

Scheduled to achieve initial operational capability in 2019, the F-35C catapult-assisted takeoff barrier arrested recovery (CATOBAR) aircraft features advanced stealth technology with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment.

The aircraft is also being developed in two other variants, conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant for the US Air Force, and a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft for the US Marine Corps and UK Royal Navy.

Powered by a single Pratt and Whitney F135 turbofan engine, the F-35C can fly at a maximum speed of 1,960km/h and can be launched through a steam catapult and recovered by using a tailhook arrestor.

The F-35C stealth bomber aircraft will complement the US Navy's currently operational Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter, by providing enhanced flexibility, power projection and strike capabilities.

VFA 101 will train aircrew and maintenance personnel to operate and repair the F-35C aircraft for the US Navy.

August 28th, 2013 By Voice of America - defencetalk.com

The United States has announced a major increase in U.S. funding for military education and training programs in Southeast Asia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made the announcement Sunday during a speech at the Malaysian Institute of Defense and Security in Kuala Lumpur. He said the latest Pentagon budget includes $90 million for the programs, an increase of more than 50 percent compared to four years ago.

The decision comes as Washington is shifting its strategic focus increasingly toward the Asia-Pacific region. Hagel said the U.S. administration is seeking to “rebalance” diplomatic, economic and security engagements with the Asia Pacific “to reflect Southeast Asia’s emerging prominence and importance.”

Beijing has expressed concern over America’s growing interest in the region, viewing it as an attempt to encircle China and embolden its neighbors. China has unresolved disputes with several countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines, over portions of the South China Sea.

In his speech, Hagel stressed the importance of having emerging powers such as China and India participate in a new security architecture for the region.

He argued that security is a critical foundation for prosperity in Southeast Asia, saying trade “cannot flourish in waters that are contested by force.”

27 August 2013 airforce-technology.com

Boeing has handed over the third C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift transport aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), expanding the IAF's tactical airlifter fleet.

The shipment of the aircraft from Boeing's manufacturing facility in Long Beach, California, on 20 August, comes in less than one month of delivery of the second aircraft.

Around ten C-17 aircraft were ordered by IAF from Boeing through a $4.1bn deal for replacement of its ageing Russian IL-76 airlifter fleet, in June 2011.

Delivered in June, the first aircraft was immediately deployed in support of IAF operations.

The C-17 aircraft are expected to be operated in support of military and humanitarian airlift operations during emergencies from Hindon Air Force Base in New Delhi, India.

Powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofan engines, the C-17 Globemaster is a military tactical transport aircraft designed to conduct rapid strategic airlift of troops and supply palleted cargo to main operating bases or forward-operating bases in extreme climates worldwide.

Capable of transporting large payloads across vast ranges and landing on short, sharp runways, the aircraft is also capable of performing tactical airlift, medical evacuation and airdrop missions.

Besides IAF, the aircraft is also operated by air forces in the US, Australia, UAE, Canada and Qatar, UAE, the UK and the 12-member Strategic Airlift Capability initiative of Nato and Partnership for Peace nations.

Boeing is scheduled to deliver an additional two aircraft to IAF this year, followed by the remaining five in 2014.

The company is also supporting the IAF C-17 fleet through the Globemaster III integrated sustainment program (GISP) performance-based logistics contract, which ensures mission readiness by enabling access to an extensive support network for global parts availability and economies of scale.

August 27, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: U.S Department of Defense; issued August 26, 2013)

Goodrich Corp., Danbury, Conn., was awarded a firm-fixed price, no option, multi-year contract with a cumulative maximum value of $208,502,000 for the procurement of Army/Navy Piloted Aircraft/Visual and Visible Light/Receiving, Passive Detecting (AN/AVR-2B) Laser Detecting Sets (LDS) and associated parts and services. Performance location and funding will be determined with each order.

This contract was a non-competitive acquisition with bid solicited and one bid received.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-D-0147).

8/27/2013 Strategy Page

GULF OF MEXICO (Aug. 23, 2013) The future USS Coronado (LCS 4) conducts at-sea acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico. Acceptance trials are the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship to the U.S. Navy, which is planned for later this fall. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Austal USA)

MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 27 (UPI)

U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Command has given a prime contract to Science Applications International Corp. for logistics services in support of operations and program management.

The contract is a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a base performance period of one year, with four one-year options.

SAIC, which will compete for task orders from the Marines' LOGCOM, is one of 19 companies given the prime contract. The contract carries an overall value is $854 million if all options are exercised.

Under the contract, SAIC will provide logistics support in several task areas. Among them are program management and operations; information/technology specialized support; training support; program support; transportation/supply support; and maintenance and logistics technical data.

"The logistics services SAIC and our team offer through this contract vehicle will improve LOGCOM's ability to meet the emerging needs of the Marines ...," said SAIC Senior Vice President and Group General Manager Larry Hill.

August 28th, 2013 By Army News Service - defencetalk.com

In combat and tactical vehicles, Soldiers can access communications systems that display a complete picture of the battlefield. However, these high-tech situational awareness features are viewed through different computer systems, over separate monitors and with little room to spare.

Now the Army is looking to replace that “swivel chair” approach to situational awareness by introducing a standardized family of tactical computers that are scalable and tailorable to the mission and vehicle. With a modular “build-your-own-system” computer, users will be able to access and operate several different software applications over a single piece of computer hardware.

Known as the Mounted Family of Computer Systems, or MFoCS, the new capability will bring interoperability to tactical computers and improve the Soldier experience by allowing them to better plan, monitor and execute missions.

“By offering basic through advanced computing and display capabilities, we can satisfy the needs of several mission command applications while eliminating the burden of operating different computers in the same vehicle,” said Dominic Satili, deputy product manager for Blue Force Tracking, assigned to Project Manager Joint Battle Command-Platform, or PM JBC-P. “The Soldier only has to learn how to operate one computer.”

In June, PM JBC-P, assigned to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, awarded a three-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for production and development of MFoCS to Florida-based DRS Tactical Systems Inc.

The building block approach introduces three MFoCS models: the basic, intermediate and advanced. The basic configuration is a tablet, while the intermediate model adds a processing unit with a 12, 15 or 17 inch display. The advanced model includes not only the tablet but also two intermediate units for a total of three work stations, making the three MFoCS models interchangeable and easily customized to fit any mission. The tablets are ruggedized and operate on a 25-foot cable so Soldiers inside a vehicle can pass the display around or even detach it and take it outside.

“The vision here is to have a single tactical computer for Army vehicles that will run multiple applications,” Satili said. “This standardizes the type of computer and at the same time creates a family of different sizes that adjusts to the mission.”

Designed to run JBC-P, the Army’s primary situational awareness capability, the system will also support other command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications and provide mounted computing solutions for the Marine Corps.

By allowing multiple software programs to utilize a single hardware solution inside the vehicle – rather than requiring individual hardware — it also reduces size, weight and power demands. MFoCS not only brings interoperability to tactical computers, it also reduces the cost of the basic configuration computer by as much as 36 percent and boosts its performance by more than 350 percent.

Development of M-FoCS dates back to a 2011 Army Directed Requirement for a common computing hardware solution with the goal of converging separate computing environments onto a single architecture.

MFoCS fits in the same hardware footprint and uses the same installation kit as the existing Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below/Blue Force Tracking and Joint Capabilities Release systems. These technologies are the situational awareness predecessors to JBC-P and have been integrated on more than 120,000 platforms, reside in each tactical operations center and are fielded to every brigade combat team in the Army.

Moving forward, MFoCS will support PM JBC-P’s Mounted Computing Environment, or MCE, one of six computing environments that are part of the Army-wide Common Operating Environment, or COE. The COE strategy embraces a commercially-based set of standards that enable secure and interoperable applications to be rapidly developed and executed across the computing environments.

“The Army is streamlining product development with COE,” said John Gillette, PM JBC-P team lead for MCE. “MCE will be the standard for systems inside tactical vehicles, while MFoCS will serve as the hardware solution for the Army’s MCE.”

Once established, the COE will allow the Army to develop, test, certify and deploy software capabilities efficiently with reduced development costs, while also encouraging competition.

The first delivery of MFoCS computers, which will be used for integration and testing, is expected within 20 weeks of the contract date.

The quick turnaround reflects PM JBC-P’s initial request for proposal requirement that vendors submit a prototype basic tablet and intermediate computer for evaluation as part of the full and open contract competition.

“We didn’t want them to tell us about it in writing; we wanted them to prove it also,” Satili said. “Our acquisition strategy resulted in an MFoCS vendor able to deliver mature production representative computers which meet the original directed requirement from the Army G-3/5/7.”