Incident Control Systems Receives Contract to Supply Add-on Armor for the Interim High Mobility Engineering Excavator - Press Release
Filed under: Contract Awards, ICS, development program, logistics, production program
New Bedford, MA, September 30, 2008: Incident Control Systems, LLC has been awarded a contract to continue the supply of Advanced Composite B-kit Armor for the Interim High Mobility Engineering Excavator (IHMEE). This latest contract awarded by Oshkosh Corporation of Oshkosh, WI will put the total armor built by ICS to over 70 kits. “This is a new partnership for us and we are very excited to be working with Oshkosh Corporation to provide these kits to the Army” said Eddie Terrenzi, VP of Business Development for Incident Control Systems, LLC.
A year ago ICS was selected as an Add-on Armor supplier for the IHMEE by US Army TARDEC after having gone through extensive testing. Over the past year ICS has provided Add-on Armor for the entire fleet of vehicles. “We are very pleased and honored that the US Government and Oshkosh has continued to place their trust in us and our advanced armor solutions” said Steve Monette, General Manager of Incident Control Systems, LLC.
Headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Incident Control Systems is a small business that specializes in the design, manufacture, and integration of advanced composite armor solutions for military combat vehicles.
Contact: Incident Control Systems, LLC
Eddie Terrenzi
508.984.8820
eterrenzi@incidentcontrolsystems.com
Navistar gets logistic vehicle contracts
Filed under: Contract Awards, Navistar, U.S. Army, logistics, production program
Navistar was awarded two contracts by the Army to provide tactical support vehicles. These include one contract for tankers to carry fuel, oil and water. The vehicles are for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. Navistar has won several contracts to provide these kind of vehicles. One would have to assume that over the past seven years the Army has used a lot of these vehicles beyond what the originally intended. They will require either replacement or recapitalization, where they are rebuilt and retrofitted to be like a new one.
See the press release at MarketWatch.com.
Defense spending to continue in 2009
Lockheed Martin’s CFO, Bruce Tanner, gave an interview to CNNMoney.com. His key point is that with either the election of Senator Obama or McCain there will be no real downturn in defense spending. Many have felt that the Democrat might slash defense spending in order to pay for the other programs he has proposed. The last two Democratic administrations, Carter and Clinton, are not well remembered within the Department of Defense due to their reduction in funding. Both of these administrations cut back heavily on spending, especially in the area of investment for new weapon systems. Read more
Army continues investment in Excalibur
Filed under: Australia, Contract Awards, Raytheon, U.S. Army, production program
The Excalibur is a 155 mm artillery round fired by the standard Army gun systems, both towed and self-propelled. When the program started in the Eighties the plan was to use laser guidance for terminal homing. Excalibur now uses GPS guidance, like the Joint Directed Air Munition (JDAM) used so successfully over the last seven years in Iraq and Afghanistan. The round also has extended range over older, more conventional ammunition. Raytheon was awarded a production contract for the US and Australia. The value is about $85 M.
The press release is at the Phoenix Business Journal.
US Army buys more HUMVEES
Filed under: AM General, Contract Awards, U.S. Army, logistics, production program
AM General was awarded a contract to build more HUMVEES for the Army. See a press release here. The contract is worth over $240 M. The HUMVEE is the ubiquitous jeep replacement in the US military. Although the soft skinned version has been replaced in Iraq and Afghanistan by up armored versions and MRAPS, the US military still uses thousands of them all over the world as a general purpose vehicle.
Army tests FCS parts
The Army conducted an exercise in July to test out parts of the FCS. See an article here. The neat thing about this is not the actual test or exercise but the photo of the soldier holding the control system for one of the remote vehicles used. The controller looks like a PlayStation one. It has been reported that these are the type of controllers being designed as the current generation of troops are familiar with them and can use them rather easily.
House marks appropriations bill
Filed under: Bell, Boeing, Congress, Contract Awards, EADS, Federal Budget Process, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., development program, logistics, production program
The House Appropriations Committee marked the FY09 budget before taking their August recess. See a story here. The Army’s struggling Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program was marked to delete 13 aircraft, and the Navy’s Presidential Helo was also decremented. The House also ordered that consideration of jobs would be a criteria for the source selection of the KC-45 tanker. Boeing won its protest of the award to Northrop-Grumman and EADS and forced DoD to reconsider the contract. The Senate needs to also mark the bill and then there will be a Conference mark up as well.
Marines buy new transports
Filed under: Contract Awards, Hawker Beechcraft, Military Aviation, U.S. Marine Corps, commercial aviation, logistics, production program
The USMC awarded a contract to Hawker Beechcraft for 6 new transport aircraft. See a story here. These will replace older UC-12 aircraft also made by Hawker Beechcraft that have been in service for a few decades. These will most likely be used for personnel transport in more benign environments. The Army has been working to buy larger tactical transports through the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program but are struggling with the USAF on requirements and quantities.
ARH in jeopardy
Filed under: Bell, Congress, Department of Defense, Federal Budget Process, Military Aviation, Restructuring, U.S. Army, development program
The soaring costs of the ARH program have caused a Nunn-McCurdy Cost Breach. See a story here. The 40% increase in unit cost has caused the Army and DoD to rethink, again, proceeding with the contract. Nunn-McCurdy cost breaches were established in the 80’s as part of the overall reform of Congressional monitoring of programs. Read more
UAVs ordered by Special Operations
Filed under: Contract Awards, Heckler Koch, Military Aviation, US SOC, production program
The US Special Operations Command awarded a contract to buy small UAVs. See an article here. AeroVironment will provide their small Puma AE to the command. This illustrates that the USSOCOM is a separate entity within the DoD and can do its own acquisition. In the past they would have to rely on the main services to procure their equipment, but they now have their own development and procurement funds. The most recent key split between USSOCOM and the Army was the decision to go with a different rifle then the M4/M16. The Special Ops guys bout HK’s SCAR. For more on that see this.
Marines buy MRAPs
According to this article the US Navy awarded five separate contracts to Navistar International. These contracts will be used to buy MRAP vehicles for the USMC. The MRAP market has increased dramatically in the last three years with BAE, Navistar and Force Protection being the main suppliers. The US military invested heavily in these vehicles to defeat the threat from IED in Iraq which had become the prime threat to their troops. Unfortunately the future combat forces of the Army and USMC will rely on other vehicles, perhaps the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) or the humble HUMVEE which will leave the US with a large inventory of MRAP vehicles not suited to other tactical missions.
Army awards iRobot FCS contract
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, U.S. Army, development program, iRobot
Among the many parts of the Future Combat System (FCS) is a variety of ground and air unmanned vehicles. iRobot won a $60 M contract from the Army to provide parts of these systems. See the press release here. FCS will have a variety of vehicles, weapon systems, C4I systems and some unmanned systems to provide reconnaissance and intelligence collection. The Army has had success in Iraq and Afghanistan with small systems providing tactical intelligence to units, so this incorporation in FCS is a continued evolution of that effort.
One team set for Army’s new integrated air defense command and control contract
Filed under: Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp., Proposal, U.S. Army, development program, missile defense
Northrop Grumman has organized a team of companies, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to bid on the Army’s contract for a new integrated air defense sensor net and command and control contract. See the release here. The contract will be awarded at the end of the fiscal year and will be for a system that takes advantage of new sensors and command and control networks. There is no word on who else plans to bid for this work.
Even small contracts make a difference
Filed under: Contract Awards, U.S. Army, logistics, production program
Here is a little article about the Army buying safety gloves. Even this small contract, no value given, will allow the company to hire more workers and invest in machinery. Of course the problem with these kind of contracts is unless the supplier can find new commercial customers or get a continuous stream of DoD orders the jobs will end in a set period of time. Read more
Raytheon announces completion of JLENS PDR
The Army’s Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) passed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR). See the press release here. This is a key step of the System Design and Development (SD&D) phase of the program. The next major step will be the Critical Design Review, and then lead into testing. The JLENS is a sensor suite and fire control system that uses an aerostat to carry the sensor.
Army awards option for UH-60 aircraft
Filed under: Contract Awards, Sikorsky, U.S. Army, production program
The Hartford Courant announced that Sikorsky was awarded a contract option for 6 UH-60M and 2 HH-60. This is probably a FMS option, but no details were given. Usually the full years of aircraft are bought in the Fall after Congress passes the Defense Appropriation Bill. An incremental award during the Fiscal Year may be due to FMS or the receipt of supplemental funding. A key part of any defense procurement contract is that the more you buy in a year the cheaper they are, so it also might be to get the Army a price break.
Fort Meade to expand due to BRAC
Filed under: BRAC, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Federal Budget Process, Hensel-Phelps Construction, logistics
The Army awarded a $370 M contract to build a facility at Fort Meade, MD to accommodate Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) employees moving from the Washington DC area due to the last round of BRAC. See an article here in The Capital. Hensel-Phelps Construction won the contract. Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is the process on how the DoD closes bases and moves their personnel around. The major decision of the last round was to move DoD and Service offices from leased space in the DC area onto military bases. Because of this large numbers of people will be moved to Fort Meade in MD and Fort Belvoir in VA.
The Weekly Standard on US Army personnel issues
This article in The Weekly Standard is an excellent discussion of the problems facing the Army with their officer corps. Due to the heavy rotations of tactical forces through Iraq and Afghanistan you now have company grade and field grade officers, those who lead small groups of troops, with a lot more combat experience then their senior officers. Read more
Army buys more Oshkosh Truck systems
Filed under: Contract Awards, Oshkosh Truck Corp, U.S. Army, logistics, production program
The Army awarded Oshkosh Truck a $49 M contract for more heavy tactical vehicle systems. See Forbes.com for more. The US military continues to buy armored vehicles for Iraq and Afghanistan to replace those that normally aren’t armored.
MDA awards space resarch contract to Miltec
Filed under: Contract Awards, Ducommun, Miltec, SMDC, development program, space
The Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) gave Ducommun subsidiary Miltec a $69 M contract to conduct research and development on space vehicles. See Bizjournals.com, here, for more on the story. This will support the Operationally Responsive Space program.
Army awards two contracts to Raytheon for PATRIOT
Raytheon announced that they had won two contracts to support the Army’s PATRIOT program. See the article on bizjournals.com for more. The two contracts are worth $377 M and provide for the refurbishment of launchers and missiles.
Services ask Congress for things not in the budget
Filed under: Congress, Department of Defense, Federal Budget Process
In early February the President submits his budget to Congress. The three Services submitted theirs in October - November. The President, really the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and DoD can, and will, change the Services’ request. Congress then allows the Navy, Army and Air Force to submit lists of things that they want funded, but weren’t in the President’s Budget. Looking at this article on Wired.com, they did that. Read more
Congressional micromanageing of the Defense Budget screws up Force Protection
Filed under: Congress, Federal Budget Process, Force Protection, Restructuring, production program
This article in The Charleston Post-Gazette discusses how Force Protection Inc. went through a boom period, and now seems to be heading towards a downturn. This is all due to Congress suddenly deciding that the Army and Marines need more MRAPs. Read more
