• The US DSCA managed [PDF] $28.3 billion in Foreign Military Sales cases in FY 2011, and another $6.5 billion were made through Direct Commercial Sales, etc. Top 10 buyers were Afghanistan ($5.4 billion), Taiwan ($4.9 billion), India ($4.5 billion), Australia ($3.9 billion), Saudi Arabia ($3.5 billion), Iraq ($2.0 billion), the United Arab Emirates ($1.5 billion), Israel ($1.4 billion), Japan ($0.5 billion), and Sweden ($0.5 billion). Afghanistan is basically US donations, so it shouldn’t really count, but it’s an eye-opening figure.

• Another interesting turn of events in Afghanistan: the country has vast mineral resources (including copper and gold) that the US DOD and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have helped map. The Afghan Mining minister has just opened a tender process to tap these deposits.

• Meanwhile a German government report [PDF in German] points to record weapons exports of 2.1 billion euros (about $2.8B) in 2010. Sales to EU/NATO countries amount to 77% of the total with more than half for submarine sales to Portugal and Greece alone. But with these countries threatened with being U-booted out of the Euro, Germany will probably have to look elsewhere in the future. This might be easier said than done. German parliamentarians are unhappy [in German] about the delayed, partial data they get from the executive about armament sales, especially when they involve countries where human rights abuses are committed. The Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) and the Joint Conference on Church and Development (GKKE) have both produced research [PDF, nochmal auf Deutsch] on this topic. Still, this is a drop in the bucket for the 1 trillion euro export powerhouse that Germany has become.

• Hackers are using a vulnerability in Adobe Reader 9.4.6 for Windows to target defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, reports Reuters. Attack emails embedded a bogus “contract guide” PDF attachment.

• Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford said the FY13 President Budget should preserve USMC procurement but will see a smaller number of troops.

• RAND’s Arroyo Center has looked at how to optimize truck logistics within the continental United States (CONUS).

• Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith will speak at an event organized by the Asia Society tomorrow in Mumbai. Beyond allowing uranium sales to India, will this lead to strengthened military ties between the two countries?

• UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond spoke at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) earlier today. He announced that the final cost of operations in Libya was £212 million (about $330M) – 68% operations costs / 32% ammo.

• The Canadian Army is hosting a counter-IED symposium this week, arguing that improvised landmines are not going away neither will dealing with them. Videos in English and French embedded below:
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New dawn?

How available are the RAF’s Typhoons? (Dec 6/11)

Implementation of Britain’s “future contracting for availability” approach of paying for machines in service, rather than parts and hours, generally involves a phased set of contracts and agreements. As each party’s understanding the risks and demands grow, the contract’s complexity and comprehensiveness grow as well, and the framework moves closer and closer to the desired goal of a full availability contract. “Britain Hammers Out Through-Life Support Framework for Tornado Fleet” described how this approach works on the ground, and talked about some of the keys to success. “UK’s “Contracting for Availability” Adds Hawks, Looks Ahead” mentioned the MoD’s March 2007 Long Term Partnering Agreement Foundation Contract with BAE Systems, which aims to place all British military aircraft under this kind of framework.

In late 2007, the UK’s Eurofighter Typhoon fleet entered Quick Reaction Alert service with the RAF, and began flying with new ground-attack capabilities. In step with its growing operational responsibilities, the UK MoD began moving toward an availability contracting maintenance model. A 5-year contract signed in March 2009 accelerated that shift, and the Typhoon Availability Service has begun operations. Recent reports have raised the question: how successful has it been?

• The US Senate unanimously approved the Combating Military Counterfeits Act (S 1228) as an amendment to the FY12 Appropriations bill. It involves criminal penalties and is part of a broader effort to tighten the military supply chain after the revelation that suspect electronic parts from China had been installed on a variety of military systems. Another approved amendment (S 1025) intends to give the National Guard a seat at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Similar language is already in the House’s version of the bill so this has significant chances of making it through reconciliation, whenever that will finally happen. CJCS Martin Dempsey thinks it’s a bad idea.

• Michele A. Flournoy, US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, published DoD procedures on how to share information with the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security (DoDI 3025.19 PDF).

• The US Government Accountability Office finds there’s too much overlap and not enough coordination between the 5 federal agencies with cybersecurity personnel. That’s what happens when everyone think they’re in charge.
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• Still no progress in India’s long negotiations with France’s SNECMA, to develop a Kaveri jet engine successor as an alternate engine for India’s Tejas LCA Mk.2 fighter. GE’s F404 equips the Mk.1 variant, and their F414 has been picked for future versions.

• US Senators Carl Levin and John McCain (Chairman and Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, respectively) cowrote a defense of their position on how to handle detained terrorist suspects. This is the sticking point between the Senate and the Obama administration that has been delaying the FY12 defense authorization bill – the latter threatens a veto.

• Since the US Senate has been unable to vote on regular spending bills in a timely fashion, majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wants to lump everything into a $1T “omnibus” appropriations bill next month instead of passing another continuing resolution.

• USMC Sgt. and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer sues his former employer BAE Systems in a Texas state court, reports the WSJ.

• It is recommended to post Sole Source Justifications on FedBizOps prior to contract awards rather than after the fact.

• The transfer of munitions squadrons responsible within the US Air Force for nuclear mission support from Air Force Materiel Command to Air Force Global Strike Command should be complete next month.

• Thales intends to increase its share in DCNS from 25% to 35%, according to La Tribune [in French]. Thales acquired this option back in 2009 and must exercise or lose it by next March.

• The British Royal Navy is deploying HMS Protector, its new ice patrol ship, to to the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship has been leased by Norway to the UK for 3 years.

• The video below shows what a supply air drop using JPADS looks like:
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• The Institute for the Study of War offers a good snapshot of the Libyan revolution and operations by the numbers. This week Libya was also on the mind of the UK’s House of Commons Defence Committee in a Q&A session with the Minister for the Armed Forces, and France’s Assemblée Nationale in one of several hearings [in French] focused on the 2012 budget. One outcome: Britain and France’s navies plan a major joint exercise next year.

• According to the Washington Post the US Air Force is now flying armed UAVs out of the Arba Minch airport in Ethi­o­pia.

• DAPRA has a $50K prize set aside for the team coming with a way to “unshred” documents. 12/02/11 update: solved!

• Project Manager Soldier Sensors and Laser’s (PM SSL) logistics team won the US Army Acquisitions Excellence “Transforming the Way We Do Business Award” FY11 earlier this month because it came up with a system to improve inventory accountability.

• Mantech to buy IT provider Worldwide Information Network Systems, Inc. for $90M in cash.

• The US Defense Science Board researched early intercept (EI) ballistic missile defense feasibility [PDF] and found that “EI in and of itself is not a useful objective for missile defense [...] Intercept prior to the potential deployment of multiple warheads or penetration aids [...] requires Herculean effort and is not realistically achievable”. But this doesn’t necessarily undermine regional missile defense plans, if they don’t rely too much on EI.

• US DoD undersecretary for personnel and readiness Clifford L. Stanley resigned. DoD’s Inspector General was investigating allegations of incompetence and waste sent by anonymous Pentagon employees last summer. JoAnn Rooney, Stanley’s principal deputy since last June, will take his job on an acting basis in 2 weeks and until a replacement is formally announced.

• The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) compares the emerging Democratic and Republican positions within the Super Committee.

• US Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) asks [PDF] the Secretary of Defense to look into how the infamously bankrupt Solyndra LLC was selected as a finalist for a contract via the Defense Venture Catalyst Initiative (DeVenCI). Note that in the end Solyndra did not get a DoD contract award.

• The Readiness Subcommittee in the US House of Representatives held a hearing yesterday on the effects of “austerity” on readiness with witnesses from the 4 services. Exec summary: budget cuts affect readiness. 1st video embedded at the bottom of this entry.

• Another HASC hearing took place to review the state of DoD ERP systems. In its testimony the GAO highlights schedule slippages, cost increases and functionality gaps.

• The 2nd video below shows a quick glimpse of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s work on micro-UAVs looking like birds or even insects.
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• With Qaddafi dead, NATO operations in Libya are set to wind down quickly.

• Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems to cut 800 jobs in Maryland and other states (further details are lacking). Meanwhile the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) won’t have to lay off people but they may have to use furloughs.

• India, Brazil and South Africa are in early talks of trilateral defense cooperation.
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• NATO’s Undersea Research Centre (NURC) in Italy is testing small autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) equipped with sonars to detect mines in shallow waters, among other applications.

• The British Royal Navy plans to make up to 3,250 people redundant in the next 3 years.

• When dealing with US federal contracts, it takes a lawyer to untangle whether and why a business is considered small or not.

• If a US House or Senate Appropriations Committee marks a program below its President Budget amount, how do the services and DoD appeal? It’s a complex process but the Defense Acquisition University has a good walkthrough.

• After a delay of more than 2 years, the US DOD releases a new 2.0 draft [MS Word] of its Commercial Item Handbook and is asking for comments by Nov. 30, 2011. The first version was published 10 years ago and covers “any item of a type customarily used by the general public, or by nongovernmental entities, for purposes other than governmental purposes”. This includes but is not limited to Commercially Available Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products.

• Lousy logistics loses wars. The US GAO reckons the Department of Defense has improved its prepositioned stock management but should provide more visibility to Congress on the status and condition of prepositioned materiel. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) have been working this year on a Comprehensive Materiel Response Plan (CMRP) which should address the GAO’s concerns. To catch up on the DLA’s daunting work, this presentation [PDF] by director of DLA Logistics Operations Brig. Gen. Lynn Collyar comes handy. The current Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness (ASD L&MR) Alan F. Estevez was appointed last August (he was formerly deputy but acting ASD) and pointed to the CMRP as a useful tool in his Senate testimony [PDF]. See also his Logistics Strategic Plan [PDF].

• The United Auto Workers Local 578 union met with Oshkosh management on Saturday after having decisively rejected the company’s contract offer on Friday. They agreed to more talks tomorrow and Thursday.

Water tower etc.,
Times Beach

Over $800M in contracts. (Sept 30/11)

Most people never see services like wastewater management and water distribution, maintenance of the electric grid, etc. The cost is built into their taxes and utility bills, or into initial subdivision fees. Military bases have to deal with these sorts of issues, just as homeowners and developer do – but on a much larger scale. The preference in the US military seems to be shifting toward very long term (about 50 year) term fixed-price or regulated tariff contracts, often coupled with partial privatization or conveyance of assets, in order to make the contractor 100% responsible for the utility.

This Spotlight article covers billions of dollars in contracts that fall under this format, from 2007 to the present…

Explanation for drop in contract amounts; $105M more in SE region. (Sept 26/11)

Around 1997/98, the Defense Logistics Agency changed their business practices, and entered into Prime Vendor long term sustainment contracts with various suppliers to provide materials needed to support the maintenance, repair, and operation (MRO) of its facilities. Items such as plumbing, electrical components, heating/ ventilation/ air conditioning (HVAC), lumber, fixtures, other hardware supplies, etc. would be included. The Prime Vendors need not make these items; the idea is to use purchasing power and commercial purchasing practices to consistently get the US Department of Defense the best prices on these civilian items, delivering them quickly and with little overhead.

These contracts are not small; collectively, they represent billions of dollars each year. Unless otherwise stated, the contracts are issued by the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP, now referred to as Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support) in Philadelphia, PA. Specific purchases then take place via orders under the overarching contracts described below, up to the limits mentioned. The USA is divided into a number of regions, and these contracts also include locations abroad; DID has used the same geographical groupings in describing these contracts, and the firms receiving them. Coverage will end at the end of FY 2011.

At present, awards seem to be dropping to 1/10 of previous levels. This is not a typo. The DLA says that it’s a series of bridge contracts, issued while they prepare solicitations for the next contract sets. Those solicitations are due out in about a month.

• USA: Northeast Region
• USA: North Central Region
• USA: Northwest Region
• USA: Southeast Region [updated]
• USA: South Central Region
• USA: Southwest Region
• CENTCOM Region
• Pacific Region
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B-52H: to 2030?

The current US Air Force fleet, whose planes are more than 23 years old on average, is the oldest in USAF history. It won’t keep that title for very long. Many transport aircraft and aerial refueling tankers are more than 40 years old – and under current plans, some may be as many as 70-80 years old before they retire. Since the price for next-generation planes has risen faster than inflation, average aircraft age will climb even if the US military gets every plane it asks for in its future plans. Nor is the USA the only country facing this problem.

As this dynamic plays out and average age continues to rise, addressing the issues related to aging aircraft becomes more and more important in order to maintain acceptable force numbers, readiness levels, and aircraft maintainability; avoid squeezing out recapitalization budgets; handle personnel turnover that becomes more and more damaging; and keep maintenance costs in line, despite new technical problems that will present unforeseen difficulties. Like F-15 fighters that are under flight restrictions due to structural fatigue concerns – or grounded entirely.

The biggest contracts aren’t always the ones deserving of the most attention. Enter the USA’s Joint Council on Aging Aircraft (JCAA), and initiatives like the Navy’s ASLS. Enter, too, DID’s Spotlight article. It seeks to place the situation and its effects in perspective, via background, contracts, and a research trove of articles that tap the expertise and observations of outside parties and senior sources within the US military:

• The JCAA
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Aging Aircraft: Some Additional Readings [updated]
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