Marines buy more MRAP vehicles
Filed under: Contract Awards, Mississippi, Navistar, U.S. Marine Corps, production program
The USMC awarded Navistar a contract to purchase more of their new, lighter vehicles. The contract is worth about $750 M and will buy 800 or so vehicles. The trend in recent MRAP buys has been to get smaller and less bulky vehicles for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marines especially have cut back on MRAP buys and moved away from the original vehicles.
Navistar makes the MRAP in Mississippi and the press release can be found at The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.com site here.
Arrests in Afghanistan contracting scandal
Filed under: Contract Awards, Justice Department, U.S. Air Force, crime, logistics
Two Air Force personnel and three Afghan nationals were arrested over charges that bribes were paid to win contracts for military construction in Afghanistan. Two of the Afghans also resided in the United States. Supposedly a bribe of $30,000 was paid to the US Air Force officials to win a $1 M construction contract in 2004. Another bribe was paid later to win a road contract. Several US military and civilian personnel have been arrested and charged with contract related corruption in Kuwait, Iraq and the United States. With the amount of money going to the efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq there is always a chance for such crime.
There is more at The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.com site.
CROWS contract spreads to Maine
Filed under: Contract Awards, Federal Budget Process, Konsberg, Maine, Norway, production program
In another example of the international integration of the US Defense Budget a Maine company received a sub-contract from Kongsberg Defense of Norway to fabricate parts for the Crew Remote Operating Weapon System (CROWS). Kongsberg had recently won a contract in the Spring to build a part of the system. Now because of this contract the company in Maine is able to expand and hire a few more workers. The overall effect of the several hundred billion the US spends each year on defense is vast, affecting companies from Maine to Iraq and Afghanistan.
For more see the article on WCSH6’s website.
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.
More USMC MRAP contracts
Filed under: Contract Awards, Navistar, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, logistics, production program
According to this article Navistar International was awarded a contract by the US Navy to provide maintenance support for USMC MRAP vehicles. This contract is to provide parts and most likely Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) for the many vehicles that are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The contract value is over $700 M. It again illustrates that modern systems are not only expensive to procure but to maintain which opens up a whole new venue to defense contractors.
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.
Poland buys modern radios
Filed under: Contract Awards, Harris Corporation, IT, production program
Poland which has actively supported US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as moving to more NATO standard equipment obviously needs to upgrade from its Soviet era equipment. According to this press release they bought $15 M worth of Harris Equipment tactical radios to support overseas operations. As Poland and the other former Warsaw Pact countries continue their integration further orders like this will take place.
C-5 upgrade contract spills over
Filed under: Contract Awards, Goodrich, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, U.S. Air Force, logistics, production program
Goodrich announced that they received a subcontract from Lockheed Martin to provide engine pylons and casings for the C-5 Upgrade Program. See a press release here. The contract is worth $600 M and indicates the size of the total program. As the US is now dependent on a fleet of C-5 and C-17 aircraft continued extension of the life of the C-5 is critical to supporting combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
SAIC does well on Iraq and Afghanistan
SAIC reported that their first quarter profits were up 25% over last year. See a story here. The company chose to highlight there contracts providing support to the various MRAPs deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the reason results were so good. Of interest is that the CEO, Mr. Dahlberg, complained of the fact that they cannot generate commercial growth to their satisfaction. This is often true of various large defense contractors. If there are significant decreases in the US defense budget in the future these companies may find it hard to sustain growth and profitability.
Navy orders training systems for the V-22
Filed under: Bell, Boeing, Contract Awards, Military Aviation, U.S. Navy, development program, logistics, production program
The Navy ordered from the Boeing-Bell team manufacturing the V-22 Osprey training devices and related equipment today. The contract is worth about $78 M. See a story here. The Osprey has just finished a successful deployment in Iraq where it carried out heavy lift missions, usually for logistics purposes. The contract will pay for the development and production of training equipment.
CH-47 said vandalized
Filed under: Boeing, Military Aviation, U.S. Army, crime, production program
Bump - Boeing employee arrested for vandalizing aircraft. Story is here.
In a way this is good news. If it had been a quality issue then it might delay restarting the production line as they worked out new procedures and where they had gone wrong. The other good thing is they discovered the damage before they were fielded. The CH-47 is being used a great deal in Afghanistan and Iraq, as are all Army aviation assets, but in Afghanistan it is key due to the high altitude which limit smaller helicopters.
M4 criticism continues
Filed under: Colt, Contract Awards, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, production program
It is not news that the Colt M4 carbine has received a lot of criticism for its performance in Iraq and Afghanistan. This article summarizes a great deal of it. It turns out that the M4, originally a shortened M16 for use by armor and air crew, does not do well in dusty environments. The Special Forces have moved to an HK product, called the SCAR. Many in Congress and the Army have lobbied for a the regular Army and USMC to buy the SCAR as well. The Army did work on a new rifle, the XM-8, that was canceled recently due to problems with the program. Because this is a key piece of equipment for the military expect to see more about this and further efforts to broaden the small arms inventory.
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.
Two rivals team together for missile contract
Filed under: Boeing, Department of Defense, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon, development program
Two of America’s largest defense contractors will join together to pursue the next generation air launched missile. Raytheon and Boeing announced that they signed a teaming agreement to prepare for the Joint Air to Ground Munition (JAGM) development program. See the press release here. The JAGM will replace Hellfire and Maverick missiles for launch from both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. JAGM is at the early stages of its life and was started after the failure of the Joint Common Missile (JCM) program. See this for more on that. There is certainly no denying that the aging Hellfire and Maverick need replacing, although the Hellfire especially has seen a lot of use from OH-58D, AH-64 and Predator UAV in Afghanistan and Iraq. If Boeing and Raytheon team that leaves Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics as the only other US companies that might bid on such a program.
Boeing gets next V-22 production option
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, Military Aviation, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, production program
The US Air Force and Navy gave Boeing and its team a contract for another 167 V-22 aircraft. See the story here. The contract is worth over $10 B and will also provide necessary support services. The V-22 is deployed to Iraq and conducting heavy lift cargo and personnel transport missions.
DoD clears way ahead for $4.6 Billion translation contract
Filed under: Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Dyncorp, L-3, Protest, logistics
Dyncorp was cleared to go ahead and begin work on a $4.6 B contract it had won to provide translation services in Iraq to the US DoD. It had been protested by one of the losers. See the story here. L3 dropped the protest after it became part of the team that Dyncorp had set up to perform the services. That is one way around the protests process. Of course it helps that this is one large service contract with plenty of work to spread around. L3 was the incumbent who lost the contract.
Air Force awards LAIRCM contract to Boeing
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, U.S. Air Force, production program
Boeing won a contract to buy and install Large Aircraft Infra-Red Countermeasures (LAIRCM) systems on US Air Force aircraft. These would go on tankers and transports and provide protection against heat-seeking missiles. While no aircraft has recently been attacked in Iraq or Afghanistan there remains the chance that it will be. Forbes.com article on this is here. The contract is worth $77 M.
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.
New management for the US dining facility in Kuwait
In this press release, on Albawaba.com of all places, Agility Defense and Government Services announces that they will take over the running of the Kuwait Dining Facilities (DFAC) utilized by the US military. Kuwait is the transfer station for a lot of soldiers and gear heading North to Iraq. The DFAC capability is key to this operation.
Two Iraq logistics contracts awarded to Aecom Technology
According to this press release here, Aecom Technology was awarded two maintenance contracts in Iraq for this year. More information on Aecom Technology can be found here.
GAO upholds IAP Worldwide Services protest of US Army Iraq logistics contract
Filed under: Contingency Management Group, IAP Worldwide Services, KBR, Protest, U.S. Army, logistics
According to this story in the Orlando Sentinal, the GAO upheld in October the protest by IAP Worldwide Services and Contingency Management Group of the award to a team headed by KBR to provide long-term logistics support to the US Army in Iraq. This GAO ruling will allow the two companies to rebid on the contract that could be valued at up to $150 Billion. There are three possible protests open to a losing bidder. First, the can protest to the Agency that awarded the contract, here it would be the US Army. Then the Government Accounting Office, and finally to the US Court of Appeals. The protest was upheld because “The GAO said the Army showed unjustifiable favoritism in awarding the troop services deal to KBR and Fluor. It also failed to seriously consider KBR’s past performance and the critical cost issues cited by defense contract auditors,”.
