“I Serve With HSV-2!”
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“UAVs, Blimps, and HSV-2, Oh My!” offered a look at the USA’s fast catamaran transports, from the Bollinger/Incat ships Joint Venture, Spearhead & Swift to Austal’s Westpac Express. All offer the ability to move whole battalions and their accompanying supplies considerably faster than normal sealift, and at much less effort and expense than airlift. HSV-X1 Joint Venture ended its US military charter in July 2005, and TSV-1X Spearhead now serves as the passenger ferry T&T Spirit for the government of Trinidad & Tobago. Austal’s Westpac Express has been chartered for another 1-5 year period.

The unfortunately named* HSV-2 Swift is also returning to US service as the USA prepares to begin building JHSV ships, but this time Swift appears to be under new ownership. Sealift, Inc. in Oyster Bay, NY received a $21.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the 12-month charter of the U.S.-flagged, contractor-operated HSV Swift. The contract contains 4 options, which include 3 12-month options and an 11-month option, which would bring the total contract value to $93.1 million. The ship will be operated worldwide in support of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the war on terrorism. The charter will also see Swift used to test emerging operational concepts such as seabasing and the Global Fleet Station, which had also been true during previous charter periods.

Work will be performed worldwide, and is expected to be complete in September 2009 (August 2013 with options). Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with more than 80 proposals solicited and 1 offer received by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command in Washington, D.C. (N00033-08-C-3315).

Most military programs don’t coordinate news releases with major motion pictures. With Iron Man in theaters and getting reviews that may get DID’s staff to go see it, Raytheon is taking the time to promote its US Army-funded exoskeleton suit. Originally funded under a 7-year, $75 million DARPA program, the suite has now gone on to the next stage under a 2-year, $10 million follow-on Army grant:

The problem they’re trying to address is no stunt. The weight of a soldier’s equipment easily approaches 80-100 pounds, far higher than the 30 pounds recommended for maximum mobility. As we load our soldiers down with more technical gadgets, that weight tends to go up, not down. The USA and Japan are only a couple of the countries working on aspects of a mechanical exoskeleton that would give its wearers vastly improved strength and endurance. While Japanese demographic and cultural trends in particular are giving concepts like individual soldier augmentation a push, we can still expect a very long wait before we see exoskeletons that can deliver the required performance to justify their cost, can handle military conditions, and can be maintained in the field at reasonable cost. It’s far more likely that first fielding, if there is one, will involve more limited use by disabled soldiers, or be used like Cyberdyne Japan’s HAL-5 in private, para-public, and first responder roles. Raytheon release | Raytheon feature | Popular Science [PDF].

OH-58Ds, Kirkuk, Iraq
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“Comanche’s Child: The ARH-70 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter” discusses the USa’s OH-58D fleet:

“The USA’s Kiowa Warrior fleet has accumulated well over 1.1 million flight hours, including over 200,000 combat flight hours. Aviation News reported that as of April 2006, 28 OH-58Ds had been lost to accidents, age, and enemy fire during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Army says it needs 368 Kiowas within its force structure, but fewer than 350 now remain in inventory. This number will continue to decline, as wear and attrition take their toll.”

As the US Army waits for the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter to arrive in whatever form, the OH-58D fleet will have to be maintained and enhanced in order to keep them in the air. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Hurst, TX received a $30.4 million firm-fixed price contract for supplies and services. These will be used “for application of safety enhancement lot program into the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior aircraft.” Work will be performed in Hurst, TX and is expected to be complete by Feb 28/10. One bid was solicited on March 24/04 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-04C-0123).

F414-GE-400 engine
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General Electric Aircraft Engines business group in Lynn, MA received a $321.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0088), exercising an option for FY 2008 Lot 12 full rate production of 84 F-414-GE-400 engines and device kits and 10 engine fan modules. They will be installed in F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.

Work will be performed in Lynn, MA (50%); Madisonville, KY (22%); Hooksett, NH (13%); Albuquerque, NM (6%); Rutland, VT (5%); Dayton, OH (2%); Evandale, OH (1%); and Bromont, Canada (1%), and is expected to be complete in December 2009. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.

‘Mastiff PPV’
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In “Britain Buying New Land Vehicles for Iraqi & Afghan Theaters” (July 26/06), DID noted a trio of vehicle purchases intended to upgrade the survivability of Britain’s army patrols in high-threat areas, as part of a general trend among Western militaries toward high-survivability vehicle designs.

Specific figures were not given initially – but those figures have emerged over time, along with field experience to back up the initial pros and cons of Britain’s modified Cougar design. Force Protection Inc ramped up production capacity to produce the “Mastiff Protected Patrol Vehicles” – and now finds itself in the position of having Britain and Iraq as its most important customers. Britain originally chose Force Proitection’s Cougar vehicles over BAE’s RG-33 family, and has elected to continue that trend by adding the 4×4 “Ridgebacks” to its fleet…

Continue Reading… »

CVN 74 into Pearl
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The Nova Group/Tutor-Saliba joint venture in Napa CA won a $39 million firm-fixed-price design-build contract for CVN maintenance pier replacement at Naval Base Kitsap in Washington State. They will provide all labor, materials, and equipment to demolish the existing Pier Bravo, and build a new ship repair wharf, including the replacement of approximately 300 lineal feet of quay wall (Structure 729), the strengthening of the sheet pile wall west of the Dry Dock 6 mole, and the demolition of Pier 8. An additional $83.9 million will be funded subject to the availability of FY 2009 and FY 2010 funds, making the total contract amount $122.9 million.

Kitsap is mostly known as a submarine base; it hosts a majority of the USA’s Ohio Class SSBN nuclear missile subs, all 3 of its most advanced SSN Seawolf Class fast attack subs, and 2 SSGN Special Forces and cruise missile submarines. The Nimitz Class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis [CVN 74] also docks here.

Work will be performed in Bremerton, Wash., and work is expected to be complete by April 2011. This contract was competitively procured via the Naval Facilities Engineering Command e-solicitation website with 2 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest in Silverdale, WA issued the contract (N44255-08-C-6000).

RGS for V-22
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“V-22 Osprey: A Flying Shame?” detailed a number of very detailed and specific allegations concerning the V-22 Osprey’s performance, testing flaws, and survivability issues in anything beyond low-threat situations like the present Anbar deployment in Iraq. Despite direct offers, US NAVAIR chose not to respond or address any of those allegations. One of the flaws that appeared headed for correction, however, was the issue of 360 degree covering fire. This capability is useful for fire support generally, and is especially helpful when entering or covering landing zones, where rotary aircraft are most vulnerable. The Osprey’s huge propellers and the positioning of its engines had created obstruction issues with normal machine gun mounting locations, but AUSA 2007 saw BAE Systems promoting a retractable belly turret solution based on a 3-barrel 7.62mm GAU-17 minigun.

Now BAE Systems has announced that will develop this Remote Guardian System for the CV-22 Ospreys that will be flown by US special forces. The $491,000 U.S. Special Operations Command contract calls for rapid development, installation, testing, and qualification of this solution, and has a potential value of $16.3 million if all options are exercised and the solution goes into production for the SOCOM fleet. The US Marine Corps’ MV-22B tilt-rotors are not involved in this contract, nor have they signed a separate contract with BAE Systems at this time.

May 1/08: Production begins. BAE Systems Inc. in Johnson City, NY receives a FFP pre-priced contract modification for $8 million for a CV-22 interim defense weapon system productions option in support of U.S. Special Operations Command and NAVAIR. Work will be performed in Johnson City, NY from April 30/08 through Jan 31/09, using FY 2006 SOCOM procurement funds and FY 2008 Navy aircraft procurement funds. This is a within scope modification to a competitive contract where 2 offers were received (H92222-08-C-0006-P00003).

FSF-1 Sea Fighter
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The 262 foot long, 950 ton displacement FSF-1 Sea Fighter experimental ship was once called the X-Craft. It’s a high speed, shallow draft catamaran that was built to demonstrate and validate many of the Navy’s operational concepts for littoral warfare, and many of its experiments fed into the Littoral Combat Ship program. Sea Fighter can launch and recover surface and sub-surface vehicles up to the size of an 11 meter Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB)from its rear ramp, can carry specialized equipment in its mission module bay, and can support up to 2 MH-60 helicopters on its deck. The ship currently has 4 stations for .50 caliber machine guns, some of which could be converted to Mk38 remotely-operated 25mm cannon. Missiles other than crew-operated Stingers would likely create a deck hazard, but more advanced weaponry such as the SBOC chaff dispensers, Phalanx 20mm CIWS, or the 35mm Millennium Gun tested on the similar Sea Slice vessel in 2002 would be possible with additional work. The vessel is already paid for, and has been available for service since 2005. An armed Sea Fighter could function in a variety of limited roles, depending on the equipment set provided. Possibilities include a coastal or shallow water patrol vessel, special forces or riverine support vessel, short-range “connector” supply vessel, or even specialized functions like minesweeping or submarine detection.

May 2/08: International Systems LLC, DBA L-3 Communications Advanced Systems Division in San Diego, CA received a $20 million cost plus fixed fee contract to modify the FSF-1 Sea Fighter experimental ship. They will design, integrate, and implement modifications that will improve ship survivability, and also improve various hull, mechanical and electrical capabilities. This award stems from one of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s [R-CA-52, ranking Republican on House Armed Services Committee] FY 2008 earmark initiatives, which passed through the appropriations committee process.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA and is expected to be complete in April 2009. This contract was competitively procured under Office of Naval Research Broad Agency Announcement 08-001, and the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, VA issued the contract (N00014-08-C-0625).

Telford’s airship

Telford Aviation Inc. in Bangor, ME received a $26.4 million5 time and materials contract for “9 months of continued multi-sensor airborne reconnaissance surveillance system support.” Telford’s own site states that their available government services include system maintenance and system training on special mission equipment for ISR programs, as well as all operational support for a 30,000 cubic foot surveillance airship.

Work will be performed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is expected to be complete by Jan 31/09. One bid was solicited on March 11/08 by the CECOM Acquisition Center at Fort Monmouth, NJ (W15P7T-07-C-W009).

Genetic Chemistry, Inc. in Palo Alto, CA received a $6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for “research to develop countermeasures to an intercellular bio threat agent.”

Work will be performed in Palo Alto, CA and is expected to be complete by July 28/11. Multiple bids were solicited in October 2006, and 1 bid was received by the Research, Development & Engineering Command Acquisition Center in Research Triangle Park, NC (W911NF-08-C-0023).