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#AfricaMonth: The Case for Africanising AI in public relations

PHOZISA MKELE

Phozisa Mkele of Khazimla Communications argues that African PR professionals must shape AI through local storytelling, language and cultural context...

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Contracts for May 19, 2026

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Department of War: Contracts
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FOR RELEASE AT 5 PM ET
Contracts For May 19, 2026

NAVY

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded a maximum ceiling $697,000,000, firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee, basic ordering agreement (BOA) for the procurement of follow-on sustainment engineering and logistics services (SELS) for Program Manager Expeditionary Radars. The work to be performed includes engineering changes, contractor logistics support, depot life cycle support, software support activity support, diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages support, technical refresh, and studies and analyses. Additionally, the SELS BOA will provide for operational spares buys, as well as software development for current and future radar systems. Work locations will be determined by individual task orders and is expected to be completed by May 14, 2031. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A) and (B) and (iii)(A) and (B), and 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1). Portfolio Acquisition Executive Marine Corps, Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-26-G-0003).

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri is awarded a $251,063,227 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the procurement, software development, integration, installation, and acceptance of P-8A Poseidon training systems for the government of Germany to include delivery of multiple training devices and support systems including operational and weapons tactics trainers, maintenance trainers, electronic classrooms, briefing/debriefing stations, and mission systems trainers. Additionally, this contract provides logistics, engineering, management, inspection, and technical support required to field the P-8A training capability, as well as incorporates cost-sharing for common software development requirements supporting the government of Canada’s future P-8A training system procurement, reducing overall development costs through shared investment. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (90%); and Nordholz, Germany (10%), and is expected to be completed by August 2031. Foreign Military Sales customer funds in the amount of $228,783,604 will be obligated at the time if award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competed. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (N6134026C1006). 

ARMY

The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $396,755,001 modification (PZ0001) to definitize contract W58RGZ-23-F-0395 for the procurement of CH-47F Block I aircraft for Foreign Military Sales (Korea and Spain). The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $793,510,002. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2027. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Plateau Software Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $75,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for environmental program and training support. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 18, 2031. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-26-D-A071).

DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY

Nemean Agile JV LLC,* Sierra Vista, Arizona (HR001126DE002); Ares Enterprise LLC,* Fairfax, Virginia (HR001126DE003); Data Interfuse LLC,* Ashburn, Virginia (HR001126DE004); Eastern Sky Solutions LLC,* Scottsdale, Arizona (HR001126DE005); FedTec Ventures LLC,* Aldie, Virginia (HR001126DE007); Intelligence LLC,* Fairfax, Virginia (HR001126DE008); ITFrastructure Inc.,* Fairfax, Virginia (HR001126DE006); and Vertekal LLC,* Haymarket, Virginia (HR001126DE009), were awarded a $350,000,000 ceiling (total sum among all eight contractors), excluding unexercised options, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Managed Enterprise Network Support Services requirement. These contracts will provide the technical and support offices with all ad-hoc information technology services and product lifecycle support. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $40,000 ($5,000 each) are being obligated at time of award. This solicitation was competed as a small business set-aside, and 26 offers were received. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE

Stephenson Stellar Corp., Shreveport, Louisiana, was awarded a $98,000,000 ceiling, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract award for engineering support. This contract provides engineering support to address multiple areas of high interest affecting the national security posture of Air Force Global Strike Command. Work will be performed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and is expected to be complete by May 14, 2031. This contract was a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2026 research and development funds in the amount of $1,208,064 are being obligated at the time of award. The 767th Enterprise Contracting Flight, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, is the contracting activity (FA6800-26-D-0001).  
 
Blane International Group Inc., Cumming, Georgia (FA2823-26-D-0006); Ultracell Inc., New York, New York (FA2823-26-D-0007); and Victory Procurement Services LLC, Huntsville, Alabama (FA2823-26-D-0008), were awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a ceiling of $49,999,999 for the acquisition of Mobile Targets. Work will be performed at Cumming, Georgia; New York, New York; and Huntsville, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2031. These contracts were competitive acquisitions and five offers were received. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $750 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Test Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.  
 
IAP World Services Inc., Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a $52,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the AN/FPS-117 Radome Replacement Program. This contract provides for the procurement and assembly of radomes and the disassembly and disposal of the legacy radomes. Work will be performed at locations in Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, Utah, and Florida, and is expected to be completed by May 20, 2035. This contract was a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2025 and 2026 procurement funds in the amount of $14,472,496 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8217-26-D-B013). 
 
IAP World Services Inc., Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a $40,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the AN/FPS-124 Radome Replacement Program. This contract provides for the procurement and assembly of radomes and the disassembly and disposal of the legacy radomes. Work will be performed at various locations in Canada; and various locations in Florida, and is expected to be completed by May 20, 2035. This contract was a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2025 and 2026 procurement funds in the amount of $4,576,170 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA821726DB014). 

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., San Diego, California, has been awarded a maximum $22,287,283 firm-fixed-price contract for F-16 test set subassemblies. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 3204 (a)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. The performance completion date is Sept. 17, 2029. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2026 Air Force working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support, Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah (SPRHA4-26-C-0023).

CORRECTION: The contract announced on April 29, 2026, for General Electric Co., Lynn, Massachusetts (SPRTA1-26-F-0175/SPE4A1-24-G-0014); for $9,114,336 was announced with incorrect contract numbers. The correct delivery order number is SPRTA1-26-F-0238 and the correct basic ordering agreement number is SPE4A1-24-G-0013. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. 

 *Small business

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Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Defeating the Swarm: Project Flytrap Accelerates NATO's Counter-Drone Lethality

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Defeating the Swarm: Project Flytrap Accelerates NATO's Counter-Drone Lethality
May 19, 2026 |  By Army Sgt. Max Elliott, U.S. Army V Corps

Above the pine forest of the PabradÄ— Training Area, Lithuania, roughly 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border, a small quadcopter rises into a sky shared with dozens of other drones. Friendly and adversary, sensor and strike, American and British. Below it, soldiers are learning, in real time, what it takes to fight as a squadron in three dimensions.

"Right now, we are implementing these systems at the troop level, company level and squadron level," said Army Staff Sgt. Mateus Nunes, an infantryman assigned to Echo Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. "We are just seeing how they work."

This is Project Flytrap 5.0, a U.S. Army V Corps counter-unmanned aerial systems initiative that, over the past year, has scaled from the individual soldier to the squadron level against the same low-cost drones reshaping the modern battlefield.

The exercise, which began April 30 and ended today, is part of Saber Strike 26. The exercise puts the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, in the lead, with the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the United Kingdom's 3rd Parachute Regiment integrating and testing more than 50 industry-provided technologies, including radars, radio frequency defeat systems, kinetic interceptors, launched effects and unmanned ground vehicles. The systems were networked across a combined U.S.-U.K. tactical data architecture and tested against a live opposing force.

The program's arc has been deliberate. Iterations 2.0 through 4.0, carried out in Germany and Poland between May and August 2025, tested which counter-UAS equipment belonged at which echelons and developed and standardized initial small-unit level tactics for fighting drones. Flytrap 4.5 at Putlos, Germany, last November, tested the next generation of industry technology and sharpened individual operator proficiency. Now, Flytrap 5.0 is the first to integrate these systems at a squadron scale.

"We are transforming to enable offensive maneuver in a drone and electronic-warfare saturated environment, and Flytrap is essential to making that happen," said Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. "This effort is about getting technology into the hands of soldiers, in the field, to figure out what works and what doesn't. Then we share those lessons across the Army, the joint force and with our allies."

Flytrap 5.0 is formally nested inside the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, NATO's warfighting concept in the land domain. EFDI links digital architecture and operating systems across nations to detect and decide faster, leveraging artificial intelligence to process data faster, to connect units and effects to strike faster and at scale. It also means reducing the cost curve in defeating drones and incorporating cheaper attritable systems. 

"Success in Flytrap 5.0 is a little different than other exercises — in some ways failure is still success," said Army Maj. Jared Whitaker, the V Corps technical integration and assessment lead for Project Flytrap. "The industry [that] creates these systems can get immediate feedback, make hardware and technical changes rapidly — so that when those systems are fielded to soldiers, they've already got a look by soldiers and will perform significantly better than in the past." 

Flytrap 6.0 will take the program to the brigade level. That is an order of magnitude for more platforms, soldiers and decisions, and at the level at which V Corps intends to fully validate the capability. Until then, the pine forest at PabradÄ— is the proving ground.

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Africanising AI reshapes public relations | King Shaka Airport drives tourism growth

TikTok microdramas reshape entertainment ...