L-3 Communications has moved to buy Northrop Grumman’s Electro-Optical Systems (EOS) business for $175 million in cash. L-3 currently offers EO/IR (electro-optical/infrared) sensors, high-definition turrets, tactical sights and laser designators for air, land and sea applications. Northrop Grumman’s EOS’ portfolio is itself the result of absorbing multiple firms and includes night vision goggles, weapons sights, driver viewers, image intensification tubes and applied optics products. The sale should be completed in the second quarter of 2008, subject to standard regulatory approvals.

L-3 EO/IR, Inc. is a division of the L-3 Communications EO/IR Group, comprising: L-3 WESCAM (Canada); L-3 Sonoma EO; L-3 EO/IR, Inc.; and L-3 Broadcast Sports, Inc. In L-3’s words, “EO/IR, Inc. acts as a contracting agency to permit a select group of important U.S. customers to contract with L-3 WESCAM via a U.S. entity. EO/IR, Inc. also deals with all export controls and licensing issues for the EO/IR Group under the direction of L-3’s Washington Office. In addition, EO/IR, Inc. facilitates the pursuit of major U.S. Defense programs for both L-3 WESCAM and L-3 Sonoma EO.”

Northrop Grumman’s EOS business is headquartered in Garland, TX, and generated approximately $190 million of sales for the year ended Dec 31/07. L-3 expects the firm to be immediately accretive to its earnings, and James W. Dunn, president of L-3’s Sensors and Simulation Group, says that “Including EOS, L-3’s EO/IR businesses will generate approximately $800 million in annual sales, with growth exceeding 10%.” L-3 release | NGC release.

M249-CB SAW
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FN Manufacturing Inc. in Columbia, SC received a $7.7 million firm-fixed price contract for 17,433 M249 Short Barrels. Work will be performed in Columbia, SC, and is expected to be complete by Oct 31/08. There was one bid solicited on Sept 24/03, and 1 bid was received. The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC, Rock Island, IL isued the contract (DAAE20-03-C-0100).

The M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW, aka. “Minimi”) is a 5.56mm gas-operated, air-cooled, belt or magazine-fed light machine gun used in US Army and Marine Corps squads as a higher volume of fire complement to the M-16 rifle or M4 carbine. It weighs 16.41 pounds and can fire 100 rounds per minute in sustained fire, or 200 rounds at its practical rapid rate. Note that this contrasts with maximum theoretical “cyclic rate” of 650-850 rounds/ minute continuous fire, which is far less accurate and requires barrel replacement once per minute due to heating issues. While most SAW variants will accept M-16 or M4 magazines, the Army Field Manual instructs soldiers to “Use the 20- or 30-round magazine for emergency use only when linked ammunition is not available.” A 200 round drum or less-noisy 100 round soft pouch is frequently used instead, and the weapon is belt-fed [good YouTube video shows loading]. A more compact variant known as the Mk46 is used by Special Forces, and by the US Navy.

The M249 has many positive characteristics, but has been the subject of some complaints from the field…

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“Build it right, maggots!”
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The Ttec-Tesoro Joint Venture in Norcross, GA received a $21.5 million firm-fixed price contract for design-build of the Consolidated Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson, SC. It includes classrooms, dining facility and administrative areas. There were 4 bids solicited on Nov 1/07, and 4 bids were received by the U.S. Army Engineer District in Savannah, GA (W912HN-07-D-0058).

NOTE: The actor R. Lee “Gunny” Emery from the movie Full Metal Jacket, History Channel’s “Mail Call”, his own web site, et. al. is the best-known popular representation of an American Drill Sgt. Good public domain pictures of that type are scarce; nevertheless, his character was a Marine, and so is Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Emery (ret.). After due consideration, and with full respect for our favorite Gunnery Sgt., we have switched the picture to U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Rayford, the 2003 Drill Sergeant of the Year winner at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

C-17 #1 Arrives
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In March 2006, the Australian government announced that the Australian Defence Forces will acquire up to 4 new Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlift planes and associated equipment for A$ 2 billion ($1.49 billion then conversion). The first aircraft will be delivered to Australia later in 2006, with the balance of the fleet originally slated for to delivery by mid 2008.

Since then, aircraft have been rolling off the assembly line, and flying the (un)friendly skies to support Australia’s military – and now the last aircraft has arrived. DID chronicles the entire process…

• Australia: Why the C-17?
• Australia: C-17 Related Contracts & Events
• Appendix A: A New Day for Boeing’s C-17? (April 2006)
  
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F-35A #AA-1
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America’s Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been conducting annual reviews of the F-35 A/B/C Joint Strike Fighter program for several years, analyzing everything from program approach to the wisdom of the program’s dual-source structure for the fighters’ engines. The GAO has a long-standing disagreement with the program over timing, and especially the decision to begin low-rate initial production before testing is complete in 2013. It has also backed the dual-source engine program as more expensive in the short run, but likely to save money in the long run; that backing has helped secure the votes in Congress to reinstate the dual-source approach for 2 years running.

In a sense, therefore, the most recent March 11/08 report and testimony could be seen as the running continuation of earlier disagreements. The report also contains summaries of program progress to date, however, and the warnings contained in its high level assessments are likely to have ripple effects in the USA and abroad…

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In recent years, the US Department of Defense has moved civilians into positions of responsibility alongside DoD employees. Some work is straightforward – public relations, facility maintenance, et. al. Other work contains the potential for entanglement, such as developing contract requirements and advising on award fees for other contractors. The Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to assess (1) how many contractor employees work in DOD offices and what type of mission-critical contracted services they perform, (2) what safeguards there are to prevent personal conflicts of interest for contractor employees when performing DOD’s tasks, and (3) whether government and defense contractor officials believe additional safeguards are necessary. GAO’s summary notes that:

“In contrast to federal employees, few government ethics laws and DOD-wide policies are in place to prevent personal conflicts of interest for defense contractor employees…. Some DOD offices and defense contractor companies are voluntarily adopting safeguards…. In general, government officials believed that current requirements are inadequate to prevent conflicts from arising for certain contractor employees influencing DOD decisions, especially financial conflicts of interest and impaired impartiality. Some program managers and defense contractor officials expressed concern that adding new safeguards will increase costs. But ethics officials and senior leaders countered that, given the risk associated with personal conflicts of interest and the expanding roles that contractor employees play, such safeguards are necessary.”

Read the full report: Report page | Plain Text | PDF, 52 pages.

KC-767: In the dark?
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Our FOCUS Article “The USAF’s KC-X Aerial Tanker RFP” has covered the lead-up to Boeing’s protest, in the wake of the Airbus/NGC win. Today, Boeing issued a release that discussed its claims in the coming GAO protest. Boeing claims that the USAF:

Arbitrarily discounted the KC-767’s strengths, compromising on the ability to refuel a wider range of aircraft such as the V-22 and on “the survivability of the tanker during the most dangerous missions.”

DID has asked Boeing for clarification re: which aircraft were left out, and what factors would allow the KC-767 to refuel them where the A330 MRTT could not. We have also requested elaboration on what would make the KC-767 more survivable, given that both aircraft would be equipped with the same defensive systems. The release continues…

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Getting blast-resistant MRAP vehicles to the front lines involves more than just vehicle orders and a DX rating for materials priority. Deliveries will be delayed if critical parts or accessories aren’t also bought in time,, and final integration of government-furnished equipment like communications systems has also been a bottleneck at times.

DCX-CHOL Enterprise Inc. in Pekin, IL received $5 million in firm-fixed price purchase orders, covering 4,100 actuators and 4,010 actuator controllers for the Mine Resistance Ambush Protection Vehicle program. Work will be performed in Pekin, IL and is expected to be complete by Oct 21/08. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on Feb 15/08, and 1 bid was received by the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center at Rock Island, IL (W9098S-08-P-0430).

The 72nd Contracting Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base awarded a $60 million multiple-vendor, indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contract for follow-on architect-engineer (A-E) services on their premises. Winning firms will perform Title I, Title II, and other A-E services to the base Civil Engineer’s environmental and real property sustainment, restoration, and construction programs. Primary services include: Title I: all aspects of real property facilities, infrastructure, and environmental design and activities to support those designs including value engineering and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design analysis. Title II: all aspects of construction quality assurance and oversight of environmental, facility, and infrastructure construction projects. Other A-E Services: support for base environmental restoration, conservation and planning, and environmental quality programs including compliance and pollution prevention.

The winners, who will compete for individual task orders, are:

• CH2M Hill, Inc. (FA8101-080D-0002, $81,781.48 committed)
• Cherokee CRC (FA8101-08-D-0003, $55,146.21 committed)
• Science Applications International Corporation (FA8101-08-D-0004, $32,906.06 committed)
• URS Group, Inc. (FA8101-08-D-0005, $24,854.80 committed)

USNS Supply
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BAE Systems, Norfolk Ship Repair in Norfolk, VA received an $8 million firm-fixed-price contract for a regular overhaul of US Military Sealift Command’s fast combat support ship USNS Supply [T-AOE 6]. Work will include dry-docking the ship, painting of the underwater hull, various surveys and inspections, and repair of degaussing cable conduit and cargo reefer compressor. The contract includes options that could bring the total contract value to $9.2 million. Work will be performed in Norfolk, VA and is expected to be complete in June 2008. Contract funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 2 offers received by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Fleet Support Command (N40442-08-C-2002).

The T-AOE 1 Sacramento Class and T-AOE 6 Supply Class AOEs are also referred to as “station ships.” They are especially valuable because of their speed and ability to carry all the essentials to replenish Navy ships at sea, offering a form of one-stop shopping by carrying dry stores (food, consumables, spare parts), ammunition (bombs, missiles) and fuel (oil, jet fuel). Often, shuttle ships like the USA’s new T-AKE Class simply resupply the AOE station ship, rather than resupplying each fleet ship individually.