Maryland is Tenth in Defense Spending
Filed under: BRAC, Congress, Department of Defense, Federal Budget Process, IT, Industry Analysis, Maryland, Military Aviation, SETA, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, development program, logistics, training
The State of Maryland put out is report showing that the state is tenth in receiving Federal defense funds. WTOP.com writes about it here. Maryland is of course helped by the large number of facilities in the state as the Army has Fort Meade, Fort Detrick and Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Navy obviously has the Naval Academy as well as Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The Air Force operates Andrews Air Force Base home of Air Force One for Presidential Transport. Read more
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
T-45 logistics contract awarded by the Navy
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, L-3, Military Aviation, U.S. Navy, logistics, training
Vertex, a subsidiary of L-3 Company, was awarded a contract to provide logistics support to the Navy’s fleet of T-45 training aircraft. The contract, if all options are awarded, is worth over $500 M. The T-45 is used by both the Navy and Air Force to provide jet training for their flight personnel. Boeing teamed with L-3 to provide the parts management. The military has turned to Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) for a variety of systems - ground and air - in a bid to lower costs. One of the major areas is that the Department of Defense does not need to invest in a large pool of spare parts; relying on the contractor to do that.
See the press release at MarketWatch.com.
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.
US Navy awards aircraft CLS contract
Filed under: Contract Awards, Military Aviation, Rolls-Royce, U.S. Navy, logistics, production program, training
Rolls-Royce was awarded a contract to provide support to US Navy aircraft engines. It is worth about $90 M and could last five years if all options are provided. Rolls Royce makes the engine for the T-45 trainer used by the Navy and the Air Force. The CLS is called “Power by the Hour”, meaning service is provided based on the use of the engines by the aircraft. Each flight hour will cost so much for the maintenance.
For more see the press release at MarketWatch.com.
US Navy continues production of Fire Scout
Filed under: Contract Awards, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., U.S. Navy, development program
The MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV made by Northorp Grumman for the Navy entered LRIP last year with a successful Milestone C decision. The Navy has continued production by executing the second year of Low Rate production. The Fire Scout lands and takes off vertically and can operate from the helicopter decks of Navy ship. The system will enter Technical Evaluation this year. The contract is worth over $32 M and is the second of three years of LRIP. Once LRIP and testing is complete the Navy will conduct a Full Rate Production decision to allow the Navy to buy larger quantities with a proven system. The US military has invested heavily in USV over the last ten years with some successes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
See the press release at MarketWatch.com
AEGIS BMD Project Office Film of Test
Filed under: Raytheon, S&T, U.S. Navy, development program, missile defense
This is a test several years ago that laid the foundation for the recent successes in the program.
Navy awards target contract
Filed under: Alliant Techsystems, CEi, Contract Awards, U.S. Navy, development program, training
The Navy uses a variety of targets to test new systems and also to train ship’s crew. Alliant Techsystems and CEi were awarded a contract to build the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target (MSST). This will simulate anti-ship surface-to-surface missiles. The press release says it cruises at sub-sonic speeds, but the name implies that at some point it is going over Mach 1. These kind of missiles are a dangerous threat to ships and they fly at low altitude and their speeds reduce reaction time by the air defense systems.
There is more at www.bizjournals.com.
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.
U.S. Navy Contracts Announced on August 18th, 2008
Goodrich Corporation, Engineered Polymer Products Division, Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded a ceiling amount $32,880,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for Sonar Composite Domes and Sonar Dome Rubber Windows. Sonar Composite Domes (SCD) and Sonar Dome Rubber Windows (SDRW) requirements will provide the U.S. Navy with replacement spares. SCDs are keel-mounted equipment on FG-7 class ships; SDRWs are bow-mounted on DD963, CG47 and DDG51 class ships. The SCDs and SDRWs provide an acoustically transparent housing for the Sonar Transducer Array. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Fla., and is expected to be completed by August 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-08-D-GP21).
DRS Technical Services, Inc., Herndon, Va., is being awarded a $15,733,333 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for satellite communications equipment and training. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to an estimated $47,200,000. Work will be performed in Herndon, Va., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities web site and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command E-commerce website, with seven offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-08-D-5152).
ERAPSCO, Columbia City, Ind., is being awarded an $11,496,960 firm-fixed-price contract for AN/SSQ-101 sonobuoys and associated data. The AN/SSQ-101 sonobuoys are dropped from various airborne platforms and utilized for search and detection of submerged submarines. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $17,245,440. Work will be performed in DeLeon Springs, Fla., (66 percent) and Columbia City, Ind., (34 percent), and is expected to be completed by Aug. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-08-C-GP03).
Conquistador Dorado JV,* Sanford, Fla., is being awarded an $11,195,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the Airfield Vegetation Conversion Project at Naval Air Station Key West, Fla. This project is for the design and construction of drainage and conveyance systems within the airfield area, removal of vegetation, clearing and grubbing of existing vegetation. This contract contains an option, which when exercised within 365 days, will bring the contract value to $21,769,000. Work will be performed in Key West, Fla., and is expected to be completed Aug. 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four offers received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity (N69450-08-C-1267).
* Small Business - Disabled Veteran Owned
Fighting takeover Point Blank wins contract
Filed under: Acquisitions, Contract Awards, Florida, Point Blank Solutions, U.S. Navy, production program
According to the South Florida Business Journal, Point Blank Solutions won a contract to provide tactical vests. The contract could be worth over $20 M. Point Blank Solutions has been supplying body armor to the US Armed Forces for several years. At the same time the company is trying to prevent being bought by a hedge fund. They turned down one offer for the company last year, but now it looks like the shareholders will be allowed to vote on the deal.
For more see the South Florida Business Journal article.
DoD utilizes bankrupt Iridium satellites
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, IT, Satellites, U.S. Navy, development program, space
Boeing won a contract to develop the bankrupt Iridium communication satellites for DoD. See an article here. Iridium is a network of low earth orbit satellites that were to be used to provide telephonic communication. Motorola had led the original consortium that put the satellites in orbit, but they company went bankrupt. The Navy Research Lab awarded Boeing a contract to exploit the Iridium satellites to support the GPS network already deployed. DoD has been using the satellites for communications purposes, along with commercial customers.
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 continues CEC work
Filed under: Contract Awards, IT, Raytheon, U.S. Navy, development program
Raytheon was awarded a contract today to continue work on Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). See a press release here. CEC is a natural development of the work the Navy has done with datalinks for the last 50 plus years. By the Nineties the Navy was able to share the sensor picture from one ship with others over a tactical data link. Even during the Gulf War this was not good enough for targeting. CEC’s goal is to develope a netted sensor grid that will support providing a fire control solution good enough that one ship can guide a missile launched from another. The Navy was installing CEC on selected ships by the end of the Twentieth Century. For more on CEC see this.
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.
US Navy awards Metal Storm a development contract
Filed under: Contract Awards, Metal Storm, U.S. Navy, development program
Metal Storm is an Australian company that is developing electrically fused, high rate of fire weapons. They utilize ammunition stacked in the barrel that fire very rapidly. To gain very high rates of fire you group a number of barrels together. According to this Metal Storm Inc, an American company using the Metal Storm technology, won a $1 M contract to develop a 12 gauge system for the USMC. Metal Storm has been working for several years to develop these systems, but no nation has bought them. For more on the company see this.
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.
Small companies, small parts, big dollars
Filed under: Contract Awards, Raytheon, U.S. Navy, production program
Kuchera Defense Systems won a sub-contract from Raytheon to build parts of the transmitter for the Sea Sparrow ship based air defense system. See an article here. The contract could be worth over $3 M if the next option is awarded as well as this $1.6 M base contract. The company employs less then twenty people in making the part, but it shows that bigger systems spill down to small companies and that building a modern weapon integrates a variety of suppliers and components.
SAIC wins Navy SETA contract
SAIC won a contract with Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane to provide SETA services. See the article here. It is a two year base contract with three option years. They received about $30 M for now, with the possibility if all options are exercised of getting $240 M in work. These kind of omnibus service contracts have become more common and are used to allow various program and project offices to buy the services the need.
