• UK MoD reportedly agrees to a budget cut of around GBP 3 billion.

• NATO expected to approve US-led effort to build a missile defense shield over Europe at next month’s Lisbon summit.

• Honeywell ramps up its political donations dramatically.

• Form Fitting: Northrop Grumman files SEC form to prepare for the spin-off of its shipbuilding business; Cleveland Ship lobbies to buy business.

• Vietnam offers repair services for Indian warships.

• Frost and Sullivan: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have fueled growth in US military helicopter market; US budget to field and sustain additional helicopters is expected to increase $500 million this year.

• Sometimes it’s the small things that matter – like improved rear sights for the Mk19 grenade machine gun.

• Up to $440 million to L-3 to provide life-cycle contractor support for the US Army’s turboprop C-12 and UC-35 passenger/cargo aircraft and the RC-12 ISR aircraft.

• Israeli F-35As will fly with Pratt & Whitney’ F135 engines.

• Research and Markets: Due to budget cuts, Italy expects delays in its Frecia armored vehicle, FREMM frigate, and Eurofighter programs.

• This, not tech, is what wins fights.

• Changing the Rules: The UK government plans to rewrite the rules governing defense contracts.

• Mexico’s “Blog Del Narco” has stepped into a media void as the go-to publication for Cartel War reporting, used as a source – and a tool. Welcome to the blogging dimension of information war.

• Going Green: US military turns to renewable energy to reduce vulnerability of fuel supply in Afghanistan. Read DID’s “Frontline Commanders Requesting Renewable Power Options” for more in-depth background.

• After a series of construction delays on the GBP 150 million contract, Trinidad and Tobago doesn’t want their 3 BAE OPV patrol vessels any more, even though 2 have finished sea trials. While BAE pursues negotiations with its customer, one observer thinks the US Coast Guard should take a look.

• NATO’s theater missile defense systems are slowly coming together, from ALTBMD to CAOC improvements, and could be upgraded for around EUR 200 million/ $268 million.

• Strategic Buy: FLIR Systems, a Portland, OR-based thermal imaging equipment maker, completes acquisition of ICx Technologies, a supplier of CBRNE sensing technologies, for $268 million.

• Training Wheels: L-3 receives a $91 million USAF contract to provide logistics support for the T-1A Jayhawk jet trainer.

• The Fighting Seabees: Navistar Defense snags $18.9 million contract to supply 38 International 5000-MV [PDF] heavy truck tractors to the US Navy Seabees.

• Northrop Grumman’s AMSEC gets $10 million contract to provide engineering and logistics support to the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Philadelphia.

• Big Enough Umbrella: US Secretary of State Clinton and NATO Secretary General Rasmussen call for cooperation between the Western alliance and Russia on a missile defense shield.

• ‘Intersleek’ Paint Job: BAE Systems completes GBP 17.5 million overhaul of the Type 42 Sheffield class destroyer HMS Edinburgh; the ship has been fitted with a new underwater spoiler and a coat of new “intersleek” paint that will cut fuel consumption by up to 15%.

• Slimey Solution: US DoD awards a $29.5 million contract to Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Trius Therapeutics to develop antibiotics from bacteria on the ocean floor for defense against biological weapon agents.

• L-3 acquires 3Di Technologies, a provider of secure satellite communications for forward-deployed US special ops forces and in-theater personnel.

• US DoD explores use of mobile solar and wind generators to produce energy in combat zones.

• Despite overseeing drastic cuts at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Gates is supported by many US defense industry execs, who do not want to see his early departure.

• Watching the Watchdog: US Sen Grassley (R-IA) issues scathing report [PDF] charging that the DoD Inspector General’s Office is dropping the ball on investigating defense waste and fraud.

• Big War Chest: L-3 says it has $1 billion in cash to spend on acquisitions targeted at intelligence, cybersecurity, and defense services firms.

• A quarter of Lockheed Martin’s executives, more than 600, have accepted early retirement packages offered by the defense firm.

• BAE Systems plans to cut 740 jobs at the UK division supplying parts for military aircraft such as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II fighter; plants in Brough, Chadderton, Warton, Samlesbury in northern England, and Farnborough, west of London, could be affected.

• Russia plans to resume testing this month of its Bulava (SS-NX-30) 3-stage submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying 10 nuclear warheads up to 5,000 miles; tests were put on hold after a series of failed launches in 2009.

Keep ‘em runing…

At the beginning of FY 2002, Honeywell won a support contract for the USAF’s Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). The SCN contract consolidated development, systems engineering, integration and support functions into one contract that has the potential to reach $1.22 billion, and run to FY 2017.

Under this contract, Honeywell will replace existing communications technologies that make up the AFSCN’s ground network and tracking systems with improved components and antenna systems. Honeywell’s team includes TRW, L-3 Communications, Booz-Allen and Hamilton, SPARTA Corporation, Integral Systems, Inc., and IITC…

• The AFSCN
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• Try Again: US Army cancels competition for development of the next-generation Ground Combat Vehicle IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) after review by Pentagon acquisition officials; revised rules for a more affordable program expected in 60 days.

• 10% Off Everything: US Defense Logistics Agency wants a 10% price reduction from contractors.

• Cyber Allies: The Pentagon unveils new cybersecurity strategy that includes a call for collective cyber defense among allies; not everyone is impressed.

• Yemen Bound: The Pentagon says it notified Congress that it plans to spend $155 million on 4 Huey helicopters, upgrades to 10 Russian-made Mi-17 medium transport helicopters, and 50 Hummers, as well as night vision goggles and transport aircraft for the Yemen Army to fight al-Qaeda.

• NATO special forces have killed 365 insurgent commanders in Afghanistan in the past 3 months, according to a report in Der Spiegel.

• Russia is moving to reduce reliance on the Ukraine for defense industrial work.

• ITT to sell off its CAS defense systems engineering and technical assistance unit in Huntsville, AL to Wyle for $235 million in an effort to expand in non-defense segments.

• Christmas in September? On the agenda for the US Congress when it returns from summer recess is the FY 2011 defense spending bill. Passage of the legislation is expected to pit the House, which has stripped many of the earmarks (i.e., pork) usually adorning the bill, against the Senate, which is expected to fill up the bill with the usual gifts for well-placed defense lobbyists.

• Georgia on His Mind: Sen. McCain supports providing Georgia with antitank capabilities, air defenses, and early warning radar to beef up its defenses, while the Russian president pledges continued support for breakaway Georgian territories.

• Flexing Muscle: The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington [CVN-73] conducts exercises off the coast of Vietnam to demonstrate the US opposition to China’s unilateral territorial claims in the South China Sea.

• At the same time, China is looking to expand its military ties with Australia.

• Chosun Ilbo: Korea’s Neighbours Catch Up with US Stealth Technology. Mixed bag, from Chinese Type 022s to Russia’s PAK-FA and Japan’s ATD-X stealth plane.

• L-3 Communications acquires Airborne Technologies, an Ashburn, VA-based maker of small expandable UAVs such as the Cutlass, which is expected to generate $20 million in annual sales.

• Beat the Street: Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications surprise Wall Street by posting stronger than expected second quarter revenues and profits. Lockheed Martin release | L-3 release [PDF]

• Show Me the Money?: US DoD is unable to account for 95% of the $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil money that the US was going to use for rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, a report by the US Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction concludes.

• Deja Vu: During the first official French visit to Vietnam since the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French defense minister says his country is helping its old colony modernize its military equipment through the sale of radar, helicopters and transport aircraft.

• India’s P-8i Sea Control Aircraft completes final design review with Boeing, freezing design.

• Tiger, Tiger, Tiger: An advisory panel to the Japanese prime minister recommends the island nation take a more assertive stance in its defense posture, including preparing for “contingencies” on the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan Straits and small-scale invasions.

• Case for Competition: Lexington Institute’s Thompson makes the case for keeping competition in a consolidating US defense industry.

• Armageddon: Proposed US legislation would create a US Commission on Planetary Defense to track and defend against Earth-bound asteroids … Is Bruce Willis still available? Or better yet, Liv Tyler?

• Financial historian Niall Ferguson discusses American debt, the effect on American defense, and the way out.

• The Pentagon has more immediate concerns, however, like what to do if/when supplemental funding bills aren’t passed.

• Shipwreck: Northrop Grumman is considering spinning off its shipbuilding business as it moves ahead with plans to close down three Louisiana shipyards – Avondale, Tallulah and Waggaman. NG plans to shift production of the LPD-17 class amphibious assault ships being built at Avondale to its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, MS after completing construction of the LPD-23 and LPD-25 for an extra $210 million.

• Special Ops?: Over 3,000 laptop computers were stolen from iGov Technologies’ facility in Tampa, FL, according to a St. Petersburg Times report; as DID reported, iGov supplies IT support, hardware, and software for the US SOCOM’s Tactical Local Area Network (TACLAN), although a SOCOM’s spokeswoman said none of the laptops contained military information or software.

• Billion Dollar Buyback: L-3 Communications is buying back up to $1 billion worth of its common stock through Dec 31/12; this marks the company’s 4th stock repurchase plan.

• AgustaWestland & Thales unveil an AW101 airborne early warning helicopter, in hopes of replacing the aging Sea King ASaC Mk7 fleet on Britain’s new carriers.

• GD NASSCO delivers the new T-AKE supply ship USNS Charles Drew [T-AKE 10] to Military Sealift Command.

• AEHF communications satellite launch delayed to Aug 10/10.

• Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8B Fire Scout helicopter UAV completes desert trials in the United Arab Emirates, which is interested in the platform.

• Clean-up on Berth 5: Emcor Government Services secures a contract worth up to $179 million to provide a broad range of services, include janitorial work and pest control, at 16 mid-Atlantic US Navy facilities.

• Exoskeleton in the Closet: Lockheed Martin is developing the HULC anthropomorphic exoskeleton to help US soldiers carry heavy loads over rough terrain under a contract with the US Army Natick Soldier Center. Not sure what the heck an exoskeleton is? Check out this photo.

• Harris snags $11 million US DoD order for the Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radio system for tactical communication.

• Defense Centers of Excellence’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology to unveil iBreathe iPhone/Android app, to help troops fight stress and PTSD.

• Proposed French cuts would leave A400M planes and VBCI APCs alone, but put off replacement of C-135FR aerial tankers with A330 MRTTs, and life extension/ air defense upgrades for the Mirage 2000D fighter fleet. A windfall for Britain’s FSTA/AirTanker PPP?

• Accenture: Execs at top defense firms say that cost cutting pressures are forcing them to outsource engineering services over the next 2 – 3 years.

• Boeing flies stealth-enhanced F-15SE “Silent Eagle,” expects export approval. F-15 customers South Korea (F-15K) and Israel (F-15 A-D, F-15I) reported interested.

• Despite lucrative MRAP orders, Navistar Defense is laying off workers at the end of July, with further layoffs expected by the end of the year.

• Making NetCents: Harris wins a 30-month, $25 million contract to install high-bandwidth network cabling at Air National Guard sites throughout the US under the NetCents contract vehicle.

• Harris also gets follow-on contracts worth up to $30 million to upgrade the US Navy’s Tactical Airborne Moving Map Capability Digital Map Computer (TAMMAC DMC), which provides a pilot with a graphical representation of the aircraft’s present position and other spatial information.

• Down Periscope: Lockheed Martin passes critical design review for US Navy’s Communications at Speed and Depth system, which will enable submarines to link into the GIG network without having to go to periscope depth.

• No Place Like Home: BAE Systems is expanding the number of its “home” markets, which include the UK, US, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Sweden.

• L-3 Communications’ Nova Engineering snags contract worth up to $53.8 million to provide equipment, upgrades, repairs and management for the USMC’s Tactical Remote Sensor System.