Long Term Aircraft Plan Includes 109 KC-X Tankers

The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps released to Congress their “Aircraft Investment Plan”. This lays out how many fixed wing aircraft they intend to buy and maintain through 2020. The U.S.A.F. intends to buy 109 tankers by that year at an estimated cost of over $30 billion.

The Air Force also plans to maintain a force of 223 C-17 and 91 C-5 heavy lift aircraft. The core of the services aircraft though will be the F-35 JSF with about 600 planned for purchase at the current schedule.

Boeing Wins Contract To Support F/A-18 Fighters

The Australian government invested in F/A-18 “Hornet” fighter and attack aircraft as an interim solution while waiting for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to be delivered. The Boeing built aircraft have seen heavy use by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps over the last twenty years and represented a good investment for the Pacific country. It has now been reported that Boeing (BA) will receive a contract to provide further maintenance support for the aircraft. This contract is worth about $1.5 million.

This six year contract will see Boeing advising the Tactical Fighter Systems Program Office with maintenance and upgrade planning and execution.

MRAP-ATV Contract Spills Over To SCHOTT North America

Oshkosh Defense was awarded the contract to build the new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected – All Terrain Vehicle (MRAP-ATV) earlier this year for use in the rougher terrain of Afghanistan. Under this contract several thousand vehicles will be built for use by the Army, Marine Corps and other services. As with any contract of this size there will be large orders placed with the necessary sub-contractors.

For example Plasan in Vermont will provide armor plate for the vehicles as they have for other MRAP and up-armored trucks and HUMVEES. Now SCHOTT North America located in Indiana announced that they have received a contract from Oshkosh to provide armored glass for the MRAP-ATV.

The contract will be require over a hundred more workers to be hired and the company to invest about $7 million in their plants. This contract illustrates how large defense contracts while seemingly being awarded to only one company spread across the U.S. and foriegn suppliers as parts and components are produced.

Australia’s First F/A-18 Delivered

Boeing delivered the first F/A-18 Super Hornet for Australia on July 8. This is the first of twenty-four. The aircraft will provide a stop gap until either the F-35 JSF or the F-22 aircraft Australia has expressed interest in buying. The total value of the contract to Boeing is about $3 billion.

The F-18 for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps is facing the end of production as the Obama Administration has proposed accelerating deliveries of the F-35 for those services as well as the U.S. Air Force. This is tied in to the ending of F-22 production. Congress has not received these proposals well and have included continued F-22 deliveries in the appropriation and authorization bills working their way through both Houses. The House has also looked at increasing planned F-18 deliveries as well as exploring the award of another multi-year production contract. Multi-year contracts have to be specifically authorized and have been used for large aircraft contracts in a bid to keep overall costs down. If there is a consistent buy profile over several years it makes it easier for the contractors to manage supplies and material ideally reducing costs.

Earmark Proposed For Elbit To Upgrade CH-53D Aircraft

ch-53The U.S. Marines like the Army have been heavily stressing their helicopter fleet in Iraq and Afghanistan. That service has begun to upgrade their lift capability with the procurement of CH-53K and V-22 aircraft. At the same time they have refurbished their older CH-53D aircraft to maximize their use.

Elbit makes a display that has been fitted into many Army and Marine helicopters already called the ANVIS-HUD. The Marine Corps did not have the money available in their budget to add this to the CH-53D as part of their refurbishment. Now the local Congressional Representative, Kay Granger (R-TX), has proposed a $22 million earmark to do this.

This illustrates one of the issues with earmarks. Sometimes they can be used for good things that the services may not have available funds for. Not all earmarks are for blatant waste or fraud like those that make the headlines. There are also cases where the company or the Service have lobbied Congress to include these kind of marks.

Ideally the budget would be planned by the Services, OSD and the President and Congress would do little to change it. That is not possible as the Constitution gives the House the authority to start all funding bills. What is in the bill is what is given to the Executive Branch at the end. Earmarks are a part of this process. As this example shows though not all earmarks are bad and they can buy useful capability for the military that might not be able to fit in the regular budget.

CH-53 photo by Flickr user Obskurantist.

Army and USMC buy tools

Armstrong Tools announced that they were awarded a contract to provide standardized tool sets to the US Army and Marine Corps. See the press release here. One of the key components of the contract is that it is Berry Amendment friendly. The contract is for over 90,000 kits and is worth over a $100 M. Read more

ZOLL Medical Awarded U.S. Defense Agency Defibrillator Contract

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a follow-on contract for Airworthy CCT defibrillators by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency. If fully exercised, the potential revenue from the contract could approximate $30 million. The services that can order units against this contract are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agenci

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Alion Receives $6.3M Task Order to Provide Decision Support Tools for Marine Corps Systems Command

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Marine Corps relies on sophisticated monitoring and reporting tools to maintain its system operational effectiveness (SOE) and Total Life Cycle Management (TLCM) initiatives. To support this effort, Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned technology solutions company, was awarded a $6.3 million task order to enhance tools for decision support for the Marine Corps Systems Command and implement TLCM associated programs. The work, which falls under the Alio

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BAE Systems Precision Targeting System Begins Final Testing; Company Declares System Ready for Production

CHINA LAKE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BAE Systems has entered the final phase of testing on its Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), a technology that increases the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of airborne weapon systems. The tests seek to confirm the production readiness of the APKWS rocket and its ability to meet Navy and Marine Corps requirements, including safely launching from a helicopter, and reliably acquiring, tracking, and hitting laser-designated targets. In the most recen

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VSE Awarded $38 Million in Prime and Subcontracts to Provide Military Operational Readiness Support

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VSE Corporation (Nasdaq GS: VSEC) announced today that its Federal Group was awarded five prime/subcontracts recently totaling $38 million in support of various Department of Defense programs. The awards are all for work in support of missions in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan to include: Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Joint Logistics Integrator (MRAP JLI) II for the Army and Marine Corps; Up-armoring support for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (FRAG6

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BAE Systems Receives $10.7 Million Order to Provide Transparent Armored Gun Shield Turret Assemblies for the U.S. Marine Corps

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BAE Systems has received a $10.7 million delivery order to provide 1,197 Marine Corps Transparent Armored Gun Shield (MCTAGS) Turret Assemblies. The Turret Assemblies facilitate the mounting and operation of the MCTAGS, which are used to protect service members in close urban environments. This delivery order is a modification to a previously awarded contract to provide MCTAGS Turret Assemblies, and accessory kits to the USMC over a three-year period. This m

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