US Navy Buys Micro UAV’s
Filed under: Contract Awards, Honeywell, Military Aviation, New Mexico, U.S. Navy, development program
Honeywell was awarded a contract by the US Navy to provide micro, ducted fan Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. New Mexico Business Weekly reports that the $65 M contract will supply 95 of the systems. The T-Hawk has already been used in combat situations in Iraq and is a saucer shaped vehicle with the ability to carry video cameras for pin point reconnaissance. The primary use of UAV like these by the US Military is to provide as close as possible real time intellgence in support of tactical operations. Read more
US Navy orders torpedoes
Filed under: Contract Awards, FMS, Raytheon, U.S. Navy, production program
The US Navy contracted with Raytheon to procure ship, submarine and aviation based torpedoes. The $165 M contract is for both Mk 48 and Mk 54 torpedoes. Some of them will be used to fulfill FMS orders as well. The Mk 48 are larger and equip submarines. The Mk 54 light weight torpedo can be dropped by aircraft or fired from surface ships.
See the press release at Forbes.
Navy buys WMD defenses
Filed under: Contract Awards, Gryphon Technologies, SETA, U.S. Army, logistics
The US Navy awarded Gryphon Technologies a contract to develop systems to protect against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The contract is worth over $35 M and is to provide engineering services and support of defensive equipment for WMD attacks. While the US Navy has designed chemical and nuclear protection into their ships, such as washdown systems designed to remove radioactive fallout and chemical systems, these defensive systems are probably more in support of personnel.
See the press release at Wall Street Journal MarketWatch.com.
India goes with AW for new VIP aircraft
Filed under: Agusta Westland, Contract Awards, India, Military Aviation, Sikorsky, commercial aviation, production program
Like the US Navy, India awarded a contract to Augusta Westland for their new VIP transport helicopter. The contract is worth about $300 M. Sikorsky was one of the unsuccessful bidders with their S-92 aircraft. The EH-101 selected will offer a larger cabin, although it is a more expensive aircraft. US companies have been trying hard lately to break into the Indian market as that country has turned away from its traditional English and Russian suppliers. India has also made a great effort to begin developing a sophisticated, indigenous arm suppliers.
See The Hartford Courant article about this contract here.
Navy to develop WMD simulator
Filed under: Contract Awards, Cubic, U.S. Navy, development program, logistics, training
The US Navy awarded Cubic Applications Inc a contract to begin development of a training simulator for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) environments. The contract is worth up to about $16 M, with $2M executed to date. The Navy will ultimately end up with a system that can conduct repeatable training on a range. The contract is for development of a system as well as looking at future technologies that can support this type of training.
See the press release at the The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.com site.
Navy invest in WMD detection devices
Filed under: Contract Awards, Fairway Medical Technologies, S&T, U.S. Navy, development program
Fairway Medical Technologies received a small contract from the Navy to look at using their technology to detect chemical agents. The contract is worth about $800 K, and is part of a much larger research project for the Navy. This is to design a hand-held detector for the battlefield.
For some more see this at the Houston Business Journal.
Congress protests DDG-100 cancellation
Filed under: Congress, Federal Budget Process, General Dynamics, Maine, Massachusetts, Northrop Grumman Corp., Restructuring, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
Recently the US Navy announced that it was not going to continue the DDG-100 program. Two ships are under construction by Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. Not unexpectedly the Senators from the affected states, mainly Massachusetts and Maine, have protested. See an article here. The major recent the Navy cites is the continued cost growth of the program. The first two were projected at under $4 B each, but now the estimates are over $5.5 B. Other than the shipbuilders, Raytheon is the most affected company as it was building the combat system of sensors for the ship. The Navy intends to continue production of the DDG-51 class instead. Read more
Navy buys M16 rifles
Filed under: Contract Awards, Sabre Defence, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, production program
The US Navy, along with the USMC, and acting for FMS customers awarded a contract to Sabre Defence to manufacture M16 rifles. See a press release here. Sabre becomes only the third company to manufacture military specification M16 rifles since its introduction in the early Sixties. The order seems small at under 6,000 rifles but the Army and USMC have turned to the Colt Industries M4 carbine over recent years. The Special Operations Command went with their own unique HK product as well. The number of M16 rifles in the US inventory is large and will probably support needs in the near future.
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.
Navy needs sailors
Filed under: Bearing Point, Contract Awards, IT, U.S. Navy, training
Bearingpoint was awarded a contract by the US Navy to provide management tools for the Recruiting Command. See a press release here. The contract is worth over $12 M and is a continuation of Bearingpoint’s work over the last few years. As with many other types of corporations the military spends a great deal of money on custom software and database applications. This is actually a large business and is often subsumed within the SETA support contracts.
Navy awards ship board satellite terminal contract
Filed under: Contract Awards, Harris Corporation, IT, U.S. Navy, production program
Harris Corp won a contract from the US Navy to build ship-board satellite communications terminals. See an article here. The contract is a one year base with four option years and could be worth over $70 M. Harris continues to add radio and communications equipment contracts.
Marines buy more radios
Filed under: Contract Awards, Harris Corporation, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, production program
The US Navy awarded a contract to Harris Electronics to purchase tactical radios for the USMC. See an article here. The AN/PRC-117 radio order is worth about $118 M. Earlier the company had been awarded a $350 M contract for the radio. Harris has been eyed as an acquisition for a while, as reported here.
Lockheed gets long lead contract for JSF
Filed under: Contract Awards, England, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, development program
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $197 M contract for long lead items for 10 JSF aircraft. See the story here. These will be procured for the US Navy and the UK. These are the version capable of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) operations. Ultimately they will replace the Harrier in service. Like many programs there are certain items that need to be purchased far in advance of delivery and these long lead items are usually funded incrementally from year to year. Aviation programs will receive Advanced Procurement in the budget to support these activities.
Lockheed protests BAMS award
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., Protest, U.S. Navy, development program
As previously discussed here the US Navy awarded the Broad Aeriel Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) contract to Northrop Grumman. The two losers were Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Now according to this story Lockheed is protesting. Northrop Grumman won with a version of the Global Hawk, Lockheed had proposed a scaled up version of the Predator UAV. It was not surprising that Global Hawk won as the Navy had already tested it, but Lockheed is basing their protest on the word that the Navy found their proposal technically adequate and cheaper then the Northrop one. Read more
Defense Contracts Awarded on April 08, 2008
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminals LLC., Orange, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $32,000,000 firm fixed price, cost reimbursement contract for services and facilities to receive, store and ship turbine and aviation fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Navy. This proposal was originally electronically solicited with two responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is Jun. 17, 2013. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-C-5808).
Read moreNavy awards concept development contract to Boeing for EP-3 replacement
Filed under: Argon ST, Boeing, Contract Awards, U.S. Navy, development program
Concurrent with the replacement of the P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft the US Navy is also developing a replacement for the EP-3 Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft. This story says that the Navy awarded Boeing a contract to begin concept development for this airplane. Read more
Connecticut politicians lobby for Sikorsky for VH-71 contract
Filed under: Contract Awards, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, U.S. Navy, commercial aviation, development program
A group of 11 Congressman, mainly from Connecticut, wrote a letter to DoD asking for the Lockheed contract be canceled and put out for re-bid. See Hartford Courant for more. The hope is that Sikorsky will win the recompete. Read more
