F-15s: Note Kill Stickers
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F-15s and F-16s make up the backbone of Israel’s potent fighter force. The IDF’s main fighter is the F-16 Fighting Falcon, including aging F-16 A/B Netz (“Falcon”), plus F-16C Barak (“Lightning”) and two-seat F-16D Brakeet (“Thunderbolt”), and now the heavily customized two-seat F-16I Block 52+ Soufa (“Storm”). Indeed, the Israelis fly the largest contingent of F-16s outside the United States. Israel also flies longer range, higher performance F-15 A-D Baz (“Eagle”) models that have greatly distinguished themselves in IDF service, plus the customized two-seat F-15I Ra’ahm (“Thunder”) Strike Eagle optimized for advanced ground attack as well as long range interception. All of these aircraft are heavily modified from the US versions with Israeli avionics, self-protection systems, weapons, and sometimes radars as well.

While Israel’s F-16A/B Netz inventory may well be sold on the international market as the Soufas arrive, their F-16 C/D and F-15 A-D planes are expected to serve the Air Force Corps until at least 2020. To keep their edge, Israel is about to spend “around tens of millions of dollars” to improve and upgrade them…

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According to Agence France Presse, Japan has pledged Monday to provide $1.2 billion dollars annually over the next two years to help the United States station troops there. AFP notes that the funding agreement is in line with previous arrangements by Japan, which began sharing the cost of hosting US military forces in 1978. Japan has already planned an allocation of YEN 237.8 billion ($1.87 billion) for the fiscal year starting in April 2006, mostly covering the wages of Japanese working on US military bases and utilities.

While some local leaders are pushing for the pullout of more troops, the threatening presence of China and increasing concerns in the Japanese legislature makes this unlikely. More than 40,000 US troops are based in Japan under a security alliance, with more than half stationed at Okinawa. A bilateral plan reached in 2005 would relocate 7,000 US Marines out of Okinawa to Guam. Japan has committed to paying the costs of building the Guam facilities, which are estimated at around $4 billion.

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Science Applications International Corp. in San Diego, CA received a $33 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing arrangement in support of maritime and coastal/ littoral area surveillance technologies. The contract covers program configuration management, technical services, systems engineering, algorithm development, hardware and software development, material analysis, data processing, testing, repair, installation, deployment, recovery, and analysis Work will be performed in San Diego, CA and is expected to be complete by January 2011. This contract was competitively procured via the SPAWAR e-commerce central website with one proposal received by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego, CA (N66001-06-D-5021).

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TerraMax 2005
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Oshkosh Truck Corp. in Oshkosh, WI was awarded on Dec. 16, 2005, the full delivery order amount of $44.2 million firm-fixed-price contract for Rebuild of the M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) Trucks, M1074 and M1075 Palletized Loading System (PLS) Trucks, Fuel Tank Assemblies and M1076 Palletized Loading System Trailers. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, WI and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2006. This was a sole source contract initiated on Sept. 23, 2004 by the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MiI (W56HZV-04-D-0322).

Oshkosh has an impressive remanufacture program. Their HET trucks are flatbeds that usually transport tanks, and DID has covered the importance of the Palletized Loading System items before in changing battlefield logistics. The PLS has several variants, and the Fuel Tank Assemblies can be part of a PLS modular fuel farm system. That number of variants is about to expand, too, thanks to Oshkosh’s DARPA Grand Challenge 2005 finisher TerraMax...

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TESLA Linear Collider
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Peoples Energy Services Corp. in Chicago, IL won a maximum $30.2 million firm fixed price contract for electricity for the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Work will be performed in Chicago and Batavia, IL. The date of performance completion is December 2007. There were 49 proposals solicited by the Defense Energy Support Center in Fort Belvoir, VA, and 5 responded (SP0600-06-D-8003).

FermiLab works with high energy physics, undertaking projects ranging from linear colliders to cancer treatment research to the search for extra dimensions. With the support of the Department of Energy and in collaboration with commercial suppliers, Fermilab has instituted energy conservation projects, including the development and use of superconducting magnets. Recent improvements will save the laboratory several hundred thousand dollars every year.

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Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. in San Diego, CA is being awarded an $8.5 million for firm-fixed-price Task Order 0004 for barracks repair, Phase Two, Building 584 at US Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract (N68711-02-D-8015), and is expected to be complete by August 2006. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The basic contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website, with 11 offers received and award made to four winners on March 29, 2002. The total contract amount for each contractor is not to exceed $150 million (base period and four option years) bringing the cumulative total for all four contracts to $600 million. Two proposals were received for this task order by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest in San Diego, CA.

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