• Chinese President Hu Jintao confirms 1st flight test of J-20 stealth fighter jet. The debate about it is robust. Some analyses see it as a serious threat to the entire American concept of operations; effectively, a Chinese FB-22. Others point out the ancillary components required to be really effective, and David Axe has a good roundup and a full Diplomat article that calls it “over hyped.” Then, there’s the Russian view...

• ITT’s decision to split into 3 companies was spurred by expected slowdown in defense segment.

• South Korea wants to expand purchases of UAVs, missiles, radar, and missile defense systems from Israel, according to Haaretz.com. Our readers have seen that trend coming...
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• Qatar hopes to decide on its next jet fighter by 2012.

• Night-time worries: Afghan President Karzai wants the US to end special ops night-time raids, reduce military operations in his country.

• Frost and Sullivan: Asia-Pacific land defense systems market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% to 2016, when it is expected to reach $9.4 billion.

• Up to $116 million to URS to provide design and construction services for communications upgrades and electrical distribution systems at USMC Camp Pendleton.

• Northrop Grumman cuts 380 positions at its Newport News, VA shipbuilding facility, about 2% of its workforce there.

• Deja-vu: Atlanta-based Integrated Environmental Services gets contract to build facility for the French Ministry of Interior to destroy chemical munitions from World War I.

• Free Fall: Boeing reports a 21% drop in second-quarter profits, but still beats dismal Wall Street estimates. Boeing release

• Sideways: European lawmakers and defense experts are calling on the European Commission to investigate allegation of corruption in awarding of side deals for major weapons systems.

• Dispensable Deterrent? The private Royal United Services Institute questions need for UK to maintain its nuclear-armed missile submarine force on patrol at all times, proposes alternative force structures. Full report [PDF]

• Sikorsky’s X2 compound helicopter flies at 225 knots / 259 mph / 417 kmh, breaking the Lynx’s 216 knot speed record on its way to an envisioned 250 knot test later in 2010. A new Light Tactical Helicopter simulator will help potential customers envision what that kind of tilt-rotor class speed via simpler systems could mean.

• Trust, but Verify: A US State Department report cites Russian compliance issue with international agreements restricting chemical and biological weapons. Full report [PDF]

• Green Accord: US DoD signs agreement with US Energy Department to cooperate on clean energy programs, including renewable energy, alternative fuels, efficient transportation technologies, smart grids, and mobile/deployable power systems.

• Boeing’s Phantom Ray stealth UCAV will head to NASA’s Dryden Center aboard NASA’s shuttle carrier.

• JAGM battlefield strike missile prototypes have begun government test firings.

• South Africa discovers that maintaining its 4 Super Lynx 300. Mk64 naval helicopters costs money.

• GE gets $7 million R&D contract to develop silicon-carbide-based solid-state power switches for USAF aircraft.

Chemical weapons disposal

EG&G Defense Materials, a division of URS Corp., in Tooele, UT received a $181.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Phase 2 chemical agent munitions disposal system (CAMDS) closure as well as CAMDS & Deseret Chemical Depot secondary waste and nerve gas tabun (GA)/Lewisite disposal.

The US Army’s CAMDS, located at Deseret Chemical Depot, ceased chemical munitions disposal in 2005. Initial closure activities were carried out by the Tennessee Valley Authority, who was replaced by private contractor EG&G Defense Materials.

The closure process is currently in phase II, with equipment already removed from the buildings. More detailed closure plans are being written for CAMDS and final closure is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2012…

• Russia’s top military officer says US missile defense in Europe should be curbed in new arms control treaty.

• Russia is developing the T50/PAK-FA stealth fighter, but can aircraft maker Sukhoi meet the 2015 deadline? AvWeek DTI analysis.

• Commander of Canada’s 8 Wing transport squadrons charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder. Amid shock, another past case ruled out; but a serial killer investigation is underway. See timeline.

• India says it will integrate the Agni-III long-range missile system into the armed forces following 4th successful test launch.

• Rep. Norman Dicks, a Democrat from Washington with ties to Boeing, is expected to succeed Rep. John Murta [D-PA] as chairman of the US House defense appropriations panel.

• Textron mulls acquisitions in the defense sensor, ISR system, and military vehicle markets.

• Is Microsoft refusing to sell XBoxes to the US Army for training purposes?

• Tory leader says UK must develop military capabilities to act unilaterally if required.

• California state CIO Takai expected to be President Obama’s nominee for DoD CIO post.

• Australian uniforms: not made in China.

• US Navy Center for Information Dominance helps sailors train for Haitian languages, culture.

• SSI secures $48 million contract to provide USAF with space launch services.

• Versar and Kobe Steel get $13 million subcontract from URS to supply chemical weapons destruction technology.

Chemical weapons disposal

To destroy chemical weapons, the US Army can’t just throw them in an incinerator. They have to be destroyed carefully so that no harmful chemicals are released into the air or water supplies.

In 2009, the US Army, working with the National Research Council (NRC), tested 4 technologies – 3 private-vendor systems and 1 Army-developed explosive destruction system (EDS) – to destroy chemical weapons. Tests were conducted at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky and the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

The developers of one of the systems tested – US-based Versar and Japan’s Kobe Steel – announced [pdf] Feb 9/10 that they received a $13 million subcontract from URS Corp. to deliver their Detonation in a Vacuum Assisted Chamber (DAVINCH) system to the Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele, UT for chemical weapons destruction. In addition to supplying the system, Versar will provide project management at the depot.

The Army testing revealed some interesting facts about the DAVINCH system…

PCAPP Map

In May 2006, “US Chemical Demilitarization: Expansion and Update” explained the underlying structure of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency’s programs to safely store and dispose of chemical weapons. The CMA is responsible for a number of locations, each of which has its own prime contractor. Prime contractors hold the design, build, operation and closure portions of the contract, while subcontractors to the prime contractors vary by site. “Nerve Gas Stockpile Destruction at NECD in Newport, IN” shone a spotlight on one site’s efforts and contracts.

The U.S. Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado is another such site, which currently stores 2,611 tons of mustard agent contained in 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, and 4.5” mortar shells. Decontamination is supervised by the PM Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA), using a biochemical process rather than incineration; the CMA is still responsible for safe storage until the munitions can be decontaminated. This article discusses mustard agent’s effects and place in the history of warfare, and takes a look at the efforts underway to destroy the Pueblo stockpile between 2015-2023. An effort that recently featured a contract worth over half a billion dollars…

• Mustard Gas: A Quick Primer
• The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)
• Contracts and Key Events
• Additional Readings
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NECD
(click to view larger)

During the 1960s, the Newport Chemical Depot (NECD) in Indiana produced the nerve agent VX until a unilateral decree halted American (but not Soviet) production and transportation of all chemical weapons. In the aftermath of 9/11, the US Department of Defense re-evaluated their chemical weapons disposal program, looking at where they might accelerate destruction of the USA’s stockpile in order to remove potential targets.

The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency has a number of storage and disposal sites, each of which has its own prime contractor. Prime contractors hold the design, build, operation and closure portions of the contract, while subcontractors to the prime contractors vary by site. This post covers the still-ongoing work at Newport, Indiana. The following is a list of the prime contractors at each CMA disposal site:

Meridian Medical Technologies Inc. in Columbia, MD received a maximum $49.1 million firm fixed price contract for nerve agent antidotes, morphine and related medical services and supplies.

Work will be performed in Columbia, MD and in Missouri on behalf of the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Federal Civilian Agencies. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response, and the contract will end on March 31/09. The contracti will be managed by the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA (SPM200-05-D-0010).

How do you train militaries and public agencies for the challenges and scale of nuclear, chemical, or biological (NBC) attacks or outbreaks, without creating unacceptable levels of disruption in society’s daily workings during the exercise? The US military has similar scope and space problems for other military exercises. Its solution is a combination of live training, virtual simulators et. al., and “constructive” environments. That last piece of the puzzle integrates the live and virtual efforts in an imaginary world, and provides status reports to commanders.

Right now, the “live virtual constructive” training environment for NBC operations appears to be falling short of its goals. To fix this, Cubic Applications, Inc. in Lacey, WA received a not-to-exceed $16.3 million cost-plus-fix-fee contract. They will provide investigative research and analysis, explore emerging technologies, and develop proof-of-concept/ prototype solutions to the shortfalls in realistic Nuclear, Chemical and Biological training. The goal is to create “a single, more realistic operational and training environment for the Live Virtual Constructive.”

Work will be performed in Shalimar, FL and is expected to be complete in May 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $2 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a Broad Agency Announcement, with 1 offer received by The Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL (N61339-08-C-0024).