“Go Ahead, Make My Day”
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Clark Construction Group in Bethesda, MD won a $230.7 million firm-fixed-price contract to construct a 526,255-gross-square-foot replacement facility for the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) in the Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

Supporting structures include medical gas utilities (O2, CO2, LN2, N2), conventional utilities (water, sewer, gas, central district chilled water, steam), electrical services (including emergency power generation), paving, walks, parking, fencing, storm drainage, communication and information systems, fire protection and alarm systems, and site improvements that include landscaping and new access drives.

USAMRICD is the US Department of Defense’s lead laboratory for the development of medical countermeasures against chemical weapons…

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ManTech International received the follow-on contract for the Analytic Space (A-Space) program from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). A-Space, which was developed by ManTech, is a collaborative workspace for analysts from 16 different intelligence agencies. The contract is valued at $11 million with a base year and 2 option years and includes Jive Software, NavStar, and SAIC as team members.

A-Space is a joint initiative of DIA and the US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) designed to give analysts secure access to text, graphics, imagery and video intelligence spanning multiple classifications with appropriate security controls. The application, which is similar to Web 2.0 social networking programs, now has over 10,000 users within the intelligence community.

The use of a Web 2.0-like application enables the intelligence community to break down long-standing barriers to sharing information…

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Iraqi Mi-17, armed
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In December 2006, “Up to $750M in Weapons & Support for Iraq” covered the official Iraqi request for 20 Mi-17s. Iraq already operates Mi-17 medium transport and multi-role helicopters, which currently form the high end of the IqAF’s rotary-wing fleet and flew their first night mission [PDF] in December 2008. On the flip side, the country has also had poor experiences trying to source these helicopters abroad, including a contract with Poland that was eventually canceled due to quality problems.

In July 2008, WIRED Danger Room reported a $325 million contract to the Carlyle Group’s ARINC for 22 Mi-17s. That WIRED report raised a number of questions about the deal, which remain outstanding. Meanwhile, ARINC is also receiving related maintenance and training contracts…

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Berschauer Phillips Construction in Olympia, WA won a $32.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of the Everett-Seattle Armed Forces Reserve Center in Marysville, WA. Berschauer Phillips expects to complete construction by June 30/11. Bids were solicited on the web with 8 bids received by the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Louisville District in Louisville, KY (W912QR-090-C-0060).

Berschauer Phillips will build a 1,200 member Everett-Seattle Armed Forces Reserve Center consisting of a 160,000-square-foot training center and a 20,000-square-foot vehicle maintenance shop. The buildings will have reinforced concrete foundations, concrete floor slabs, mechanical systems, and electrical systems. Supporting facilities will include site preparation, paving, fencing, and extension of utilities.

IqAF C-130E
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In August 1990, Iraq’s Air Force had more than 500 aircraft in their inventory. The IqAF was decimated in 1991, after Saddam invaded Kuwait and ended up facing the US military and its allies. What remained was hobbled by extensive, and expensive, no-fly zones, until the war formally concluded in 2003 with a US-led invasion that eliminated Saddam’s regime. Rebuilding the IqAF under the new Iraqi government has been a slow process.

The C-130 Hercules was an early player in Iraq’s rebuilt air force, which remains small and focused on transport and surveillance missions. Positive experiences with the IqAF 23rd Sqn.’s 3 refurbished C-130Es, which fly from Baghdad International Airport, led Iraq to make a formal sale request for new C-130J-30s in July 2008. The latest development completes Iraq’s 6-plane buy…

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Valero Marketing and Supply in San Antonio, TX won a maximum $230.5 million fixed-price-with-economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for aviation fuel. The other location of performance besides San Antonio is Benicia, CA.

The original proposal was Web solicited with 19 responses received by the Defense Energy Support Center at Fort Belvoir, VA (SP0600-09-D-0498). The date of performance completion is Oct 30/10.

ITT’s ENVG
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ITT Corporation received $43 million in follow-on orders for Enhanced Night Vision Goggles (ENVG) [PDF] and associated spare parts from the US Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command Acquisition Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground in MD.

The original contract (W91CRB-05-D-0012), awarded in 2005, has a potential value of $560 million. ITT partnered with Raytheon in developing the ENVG, which combines a number of night vision technologies.

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The US Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) awarded CSC a contract with a potential value of $50 million to provide applications infrastructure and systems support (AISS) services, including information assurance, development testing, configuration management and training, for AMC’s command and control (C2) system. The contract has a 1-year base period and 3 one-year options.

For this contract (FA4452-09-D-0004), CSC leads a team that includes Harris Corp in Melbourne, FL; Northrop Grumman in Los Angeles, CA; and TRI-COR Industries in Lanham, MD.

AMC has upgraded its C2 system to provide round-the-clock monitoring of mobility aircraft and aircrews worldwide…

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Saudi E-3
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The 707-based E-3 aircraft forms the backbone of American, British, French, and NATO airborne early warning and control (AWACS), monitoring large swathes of airspace from an elevated position to detect incursions by enemy fighters, missiles, and even UAVs. When coupled with communications systems that allow it act as an airborne relay and command post for the aerial fight, they become unquiely valuable weapons systems. Many are well over 20 years old, however, and so upgrades have been ongoing to American, British, French, and NATO aircraft. Key upgrades in this area include Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) kits that improve the AWACS radar by boosting its sensitivity, toughening it against jamming, and improving its reliability. The passive listening electronic support measures (ESM) system is another popular enhancement, which helps the plane detect, identify and track electronic transmissions from ground, airborne and maritime sources to determine radar and weapons system types.

Saudi Arabia bought 5 E-3 AWACS/TASS planes and 8 KE-3A aerial tanker and cargo aircraft under the “Peace Sentinel” program, which began in 1981 and saw deliveries commence in 1986. Like Boeing’s US, British, French, and NATO customers, they are now seeking upgrades to keep their aircraft up to date in technology terms. The latest developments involve up to $2 billion in sales requests…

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Egypt air force’s CH-47Cs
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Egypt originally purchased the CH-47C Chinooks in 1980. In 1998, Egypt undertook to modernize its inventory of US Chinook helicopters from the older CH-47Cs to the upgraded CH-47D, ordering 4 newly built CH-47Ds from Boeing that year. In 2002, the country’s air force began modernizing its existing 15 CH-47Cs, signing a contract with Boeing to upgrade 12 of them to the CH-47D model by the end of 2004. The 3 remaining CH-47Cs were expected to be turned into maintenance trainers.

In its continuing effort to add CH-47Ds to its air force, Egypt recently asked to buy 6 CH-47D Chinook helicopters and related equipment worth a total of $308 million from the US government, according to an Aug 06/09 announcement by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (US DSCA)...

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