CoAspire has submitted its #SeaPort-Next Generation Contract Proposal

Photo US Navy

CoAspire has submitted its SeaPort-Next Generation Proposal and is excited to hopefully win a prime contract. CoAspire's teammates on this proposal (subcontractors) are Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, PTC Inc, Ventus Executive Solutions, LLC and Socius Solutions, Inc.

CoAspire is a prime on the NAVSEA SeaPort-E schedule, but NAVSEA is ending the SeaPort-E schedule and creating the SeaPort-NxG schedule. There will be similarities between the schedules but some major changes will also occur. Where SeaPort-E is broken down into seven zones based on regions across the United States, SeaPort-NxG will no longer separate contract holders into zones; all MAC holders will have the opportunity to submit proposals for any zone.

Another major change in SeaPort-NxG will be in regards to the functional areas. SeaPort-E contains 22 distinct functional areas; SeaPort-NxG is expected to have two broad functional areas – Engineering Support Services and Program Management Support Services. There will then be 29 subcategories between the two large functional areas.

Lastly, where SeaPort-E only required a contractor to have prior Department of Defense experience, SeaPort-NxG is expected to require more narrowly tailored experience specific to the Department of the Navy, which must be verifiable through the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System or government endorsement.  CoAspire has the verifiable support to the Navy as a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin.

#JAGM (Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile) passes Milestone C and Enters Low Rate Initial Production

Lockheed Martin's @JAGM (Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile)

On June 8, 2018, the Army's JAMS program office in Huntsville, Alabama approved the JAGM missile program's entry into Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). The Lockheed Martin team successfully proved the capability of the missile during its Engineering Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase and successfully fired dozens of missiles against demanding, dynamic targets on land and at sea, resulting in the Milestone C approval and entry into LRIP. The team is now working toward service approvals for Initial Operational Capability (IOC) on the two threshold platforms, the Army's AH-64E Apache attack helicopter in 2019 and the Marine Corps for their AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter in 2020.

Beyond the Apache and Cobra, any air (or land and sea) platform that currently fires Hellfire missiles is a candidate program for the multi-mode JAGM, including fighter aircraft for the JAGM-F missile currently under development. The Air Force requested $31.596M in their FY19 budget request for a new start for JAGM-F on F-16 and other fighter platforms. The House Armed Services Committee in their report on the FY19 NDAA spoke favorably of future integration of the #JAGM-F on Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18, F-35, and AV-8B fighters, and authorized $10M in additional funding to the DoN for that activity.

Additional details on the Milestone C and LRIP approval can be found in this Jane's 360 article by Robin Hughes: 

http://www.janes.com/article/81125/jagm-enters-lrip

CoAspire attending @PTC's #Liveworx - Cutting-Edge Software for #Federal #Aerospace and #Defense Customers

CoAspire is attending@PTC's @Liveworx Software Symposium in Boston

In the picture at the right, and using #PTC's #Vuforia #AR software, I can visualize through a tablet and #AugmentedReality what PTC's new global HQ will look like under construction about 1/2 a mile away from the Convention Hall. 

CoAspire's Summer Intern for 2018 - Jack Denneny, Penn State University

Jack Denneny

CoAspire attends Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Gala on June 2nd - Scarlet and Gold Member

The US Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps, "The President's Own" performs Saturday night at the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Gala Event.

CoAspire's CEO, Doug Denneny is a long-standing member and volunteer on the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation's "Scarlet and Gold Committee" responsible for putting on the annual gala in support of funding scholarships for the children of Marines and Navy Corpsmen who support(ed) Marine units.

CoAspire attends VFA-213 Change of Command on May 24th at NAS Oceana

CDR Patrick Baker takes over command of the world famous VFA-213 Blacklions at NAS Oceana, Virginia.

CoAspire attends USSOCOM SOFIC Trade Show and Symposium in Tampa, FL

Blackhawk helicopter conducting the demo.

PEO FW PM and her team

The Hellfire missile manufactured by Lockheed Martin

If you haven't attended - SOFIC is one of the best trade shows and symposiums in the US. Not only do the USSOCOM Program Managers and Small Business advocates lean forward and provide candid assessments of their needs, but the Special Forces teams put on a heck of a demo!

CoAspire completes GSA's IT Schedule 70 Proposal and SDVOSB Recertification

CoAspire completed its GSA IT Schedule 70 eOffer this week and applied for the IT Professional Services and Cybersecurity "Incident Response" SINs. Additionally, CoAspire completed its SDVOSB re-certification submision through the VA CVE. A busy week - now off to Tampa and the Special Operations trade show - SOFIC 

JAGM-F Missile - HASC authorizes $5M for Navy and $5M for Marine Corps Fighter Aircraft Studies and Analysis in FY19 NDAA

CoAspire personnel attended the open HASC Markup session on May 9, 2018 where JAGM-F and other issues were debated and voted on. JAGM-F Missile amendments (an additional $10M total authorized for Navy and Marine Corps) were voted on "En Bloc" and the vote was bi-partisan and unanimous. (CoAspire Photo)

On Wednesday, May 9th 2018 during the FY19 NDAA markup, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) passed two "En Bloc" amendments for the JAGM-F missile program for the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act. En Bloc amendments are cleared in a bi-partisan process in advance by the HASC and are voted on during the day-long markup process. Both En Bloc votes that included JAGM-F were unanimous.

For those not familiar with the process, the House Armed Services Committee conducts their mark-up of the NDAA in an open, televised forum and members of the public can sit in the limited public seating area and watch the debate and votes in person. Some of the amendments can be controversial. The ones on the JAGM-F were not, and had senior, bi-partisan support. 

Here is a link to a Defense News article that lists the En Bloc amendments.

The first amendment passed by the full committee (EB7 117r1) authorizes an additional $5M for JAGM-F missile studies and analysis for the Navy for their F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35C aircraft, and an additional $5M on a separate line for the USMC for their F/A-18C/D, AV-8B and F-35B/C aircraft.

The second amendment (EB2 177) requests a briefing by the Department of the Navy to the committee on the services' plans for JAGM-F integration on its fighter aircraft to replace the Laser Maverick missile that will be out of inventory in the coming decade. This type of briefing request is expected when the committee authorizes additional funding, to ensure the services have a good plan moving forward.

The US Air Force has requested $31.596M in the FY19 budget to begin JAGM-F integration activities on their aircraft, and the $10M for the DoN will allow both the Navy and Marine Corps to begin their studies and analysis in concert with the Air Force in FY19 and beyond. 

The JAGM-F missile is an eject-launched, fighter-capable derivative the JAGM missile that is a dual-mode seeker missile incorporating an active millimeter-wave radar and a semi-active laser seeker. The JAGM missile is a follow-on to the the Hellfire missile and will IOC on the US Army's Apache helicopter and the US Marine Corps' Cobra helicopter.

JAGM Missile