iRobot’s Packbot

In September 2011, iRobot Corp., Bedford, MA, was awarded a 5-year, $60 million firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for up to 300 PackBot Robot Systems, plus sustainment parts, repair, maintenance, and training. This contract can be used to deliver Foreign Military Sale channel orders, and iRobot says that has delivered government and industrial robots to customers in approximately 30 countries so far. In response to requests, Rrobot told DID that this new contract will allow the government to procure commercial Packbot systems, and does not fall within military MTRS or SUGV contracts.

Work will be performed in Bedford, MA, and the contract runs until July 27/16. One bid was solicited by the RSJPO (Robotic Systems Joint Program Office), with 1 bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command in Warren, MI, who manages the contract (W56HZV-11-D-0093). See also iRobot release.

MMP-15/30
(click to view larger)

In September 2011, small business qualifier The Machine Lab in Wellington, CO receives an $11.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for MMP-30 robots and spare parts repair kits, which combines purchases for the US Navy (24%), and the government of Afghanistan (76%) via the official Foreign Military Sales process.

The purchase arose out of a Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technical Division requirement for a tracked mobile robot system with wireless control, multiple audio/video capability, and replacement parts. The USA already fields MTRS robots for EOD roles, which fit these criteria: the QinetiQ TALON is heavier, but iRobot’s Packbot is in the same 50 pound class as the MMP-30.

BCTM B-Kit in Hummer

With SUGV pending wind-down, early materials order for SUGV sets 2-3. (Sept 14/11)

Concerns about cost overruns, vehicle design, and contract structure prompted the Pentagon to cancel the US Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) program in June 2009.

Instead of a single FCS contract, the Pentagon directed the Army to set up a number of separate programs to undertake parts of the FCS program. One of those programs is the Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) Increment 1. The BCTM Increment 1 capabilities – which include ground robots, UAVs, ground sensors, and vehicle (B-Kit) network integration kits – were planned to be fielded to up to 9 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams beginning in 2011. Now it’s more like 2015 for the 1st brigade, and it will happen without most of the original components…

• BCTM/ E-IBCT Increment 1
• Contracts and Key Events, FY 2007-2011 [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

MTRS: TALON IV

In 2005 children’s toys were being used by American soldiers on the front lines, to help them look for roadside bombs. It would appear that someone took notice, because there has since been a flurry of activity on the robotic explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) front. The Man Transportable Robotic System program took off, and its military ground robots began making a difference long before protected MRAP vehicles began to arrive in numbers.

The Academy-award winning movie “The Hurt Locker” made bomb disposal famous, but the reality of it involves far more robots, and far fewer wearable bomb suits. MTRS robots are the larger, heavy duty options for Explosives Ordnance Disposal technicians, though smaller options are also in service. So, what exactly is the MTRS program?

• MTRS: Why Send A Man to Do A Robot’s Job?
• MTRS: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• MTRS’ Mini-Mes: MARCbot & BomBot
• MTRS Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
  Continue Reading… »

• Up to $2.5 billion to 13 companies for mobilization and deployment planning support to the US Army Forces Command under the OPTARSS II contract.

• US Army to shut down Accessions Command, which oversees initial entry training programs for recruits.

• BAE Systems gets $62 million contract modification to provide energy absorbing seats, gunner protection, and laser designation for the US Army’s Bradley fighting vehicle.

• Fire and Brimstone: The US and French air forces are considering acquiring the MBDA’s Brimstone anti-armor missile used by RAF Tornado fighters in Libya.

• EU countries’ defense spending totals $280 billion, according to ASD Reports.

• South Korean F-15K Slam Eagles begin flying with their new Lockheed Martin Sniper surveillance and targeting pods. When did that contract happen?

• If you want to field a 2 foot long, 13 pound bomb for small UAVs, the first thing you need is a really good small warhead. Raytheon turned to Nammo Talley for its new STM Small Tactical Munition.

• The Indonesian Navy successfully tests Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles for the first time. The P-800 (Russian)/ SS-N-26 (NATO) missile was used as the basis for the Indo-Russian Brahmos, and “Yakhont” is the name used for P-800 export versions.

• Is the US Army losing its best officers?

• Reuters Special Report: How Libya is a showcase in the new arms race. Dassault’s Rafale fighters definitely grabbed attention with their reconnaissance and ground attack punch – still needs a targeting pod, though. Competing Eurofighters are touting EGBU-16 GPS/laser-guided bomb tests and showcasing their Paveway precision attack punch in Libya, complete with targeting pods, while Tornados fire the new MBDA Brimstone anti-armor missiles. Meanwhile, the US State Department has reportedly restricted some proposed regional arms sales from American firms.

• Qatar supplies French-made Milan anti-tank missile systems to Libyan rebels. Can they use them effectively?

• SpaceX prepping Falcon 9 Heavy rocket, aims to surpass EELV performance and break the $1,000 per pound barrier for payload delivery to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

• Northrop Grumman, US Navy successfully test laser weapon by setting target boat on fire.

• After posting a healthy 8.6% annual growth rate from 2006 to 2010, Portugal’s defense budget is headed for a .45% annual decline through 2015, according to iCD Research. Of course, if Portugal’s lenders keep raising their rates… any Wall St. types want a used F-16 for their garage? Maybe a U212A submarine to cruise Cape Cod?

• US Army Rapid Fielding Initiative’s Project Workhorse hopes to field a load-carrying, soldier-following robot to Afghanistan by October 2011. Nothing like testing the idea on terrain fit for the Mars Rover.

• IAI is offering a tethered ETOP UFO-style UAV in Latin America, to provide 10+ km radius surveillance from tactical ground vehicles.

• SAIC gets $41 million SeaPort-e task order to develop a lifecycle research program to combat equipment and infrastructure corrosion, which the DoD estimates [PDF] costs $22.5 billion per year to address.

• Pall gets $14 million order to supply engine filters for 59 US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

• Setpoint Systems snags an $11.9 million contract from ATK Small Caliber Systems to provide 4 additional .50-caliber ammunition case manufacturing systems at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, MO.

• ROE Farce. Taliban detainees who had been videotaped placing bombs in the culverts of roads near Kandahar, with chemical traces found on their hands, are released after 96 hours rather than prosecuted, in a drearily familiar routine. All the technology in the world won’t make up for terrible policy, and its corresponding effects on both morale and local cooperation.

• What about FY 2011?: While the Pentagon is asking for $671 billion in FY 2012 (DoD Comptroller breakdown), Gates tells Congress, “We need $540 billion in FY 2011!”

• The Russian Defense Ministry grounds its fleet of Mi-28 attack helicopters after an Mi-28N Night Hunter crashed in Stavropol, killing the pilot.

• I’ll be baaack: The worldwide military robotics market is expected to explode over the next 5 years, reaching $8 billion in 2016, compared with $5.8 billion in 2010, according to ABI Research.

• The Air Force selects Balfour Beatty Communities to privatize family housing at four bases in the Western US, a deal with a potential value of over $330 million.

• Vigor Industrial closes on its $130 million acquisition of Todd Shipyards, a Seattle-based military and commercial shipbuilder.

• Prime contractor BAE Systems and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard complete pump and valve repair work on the guided-missile frigate USS Reuben James (FFG-57) using an airtight cofferdam on the underwater hull, instead of drydocking the ship.

• Defense industry is running out of patience with Congress over FY2011 defense appropriations. Since the last Congress failed to pass a budget, the “continuing resolution’s” expiry could create a crisis of mismatched funds. The hardest hit service would probably be the Navy.

• Speaking of crises, some people believe that upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt, etc. may delay approvals and contracts for American arms sales to the region. Is that prudence, or digging a deeper hole?

• Meanwhile, the British are very unhappy that American diplomats divulged classified information about Britain’s nuclear deterrent to the Russians, as part of New START negotiations.

• That treaty isn’t going to stop Russia from developing its new SS-NX-30 Bulava SLBM and Yars-24 ICBM nuclear missiles.

• To add to British unhappiness, their new nuclear fast attack boat HMS Astute is back in port yet again. This time, failures to its weapon support and onboard toilets & sewage were to blame. “A busted flush,” indeed.

• Pentagon has failed to pay for transportation improvements to accommodate BRAC-mandated personnel transfers in the greater Washington, DC, area, according to a report by the National Research Council.

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in San Diego, CA agrees to acquire Herley Industries, a Lancaster, PA-based supplier of defense microwave products, for $270 million in cash.

• Raytheon and Analytical Graphics are teaming under a $22 million contract to develop a wind turbine/radar modeling tool that will determine the best wind farm locations to avoid interference with radar systems, a significant concern of the DoD [PDF].

• There are more than 2,000 ground robots deployed in Afghanistan, and US troops want more.

• Australian Department of Defence issues tender documents to conduct cybersecurity review of department personnel.

• The Malaysia armed forces is reportedly planning to spend up to MYR 2.2 billion (about $720 million) for 3 multirole support ships, 2 of which would be built locally, according to BMI.

• Australia’s Department of Defence cancels A$ 40 million contract with Thales Australia to build 6 LCM2000 landing craft designed for use with Kanimbla Class LPAs, but which don’t seem to fit its ships.

• India is looking for up to 10 LCMs…

• Obama administration mulls switch of 95 megahertz in the 1755 to 1850 radio frequency band from military to commercial use; DoD currently uses the band for satellite, radio, surveillance, and aeronautical operations [PDF].

• US Navy thinks it has a solution to the peeling anechoic tiles on its Virginia Class submarines.

• Top Gunned: China’s J-10 fighter footage apparently made in America.

• Russian Navy to receive a new Yasen (Graney)-class nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine, which has been 18 years in construction, by year’s end.

• India’s Nilgiri Class frigate INS Vindhyagiri collides with the merchant ship MV Nordlake near the entrance of Mumbai harbor, catches fire, then sinks after it’s towed back to the dock. The crew was evacuated, and the Indian Navy is considering lawsuits and charges. The Nilgiri class is mostly used for training now, and is slated for decommissioning soon.

• Tier 2 Indian EMB-145 AWACS aircraft set to roll out of Embraer Feb 21/11, fly to India in August 2011 for installation of Indian designed radar & equipment, and hopefully pass testing by 2014. By which time Pakistan will have been flying its similar Saab Erieye AWACS planes for a few years.

• Canada about to begin shipborne tests of the MH-92 / CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter.

• Goodrich gets 5-year contract worth up to $47 million to supply AN/AVR-2A(V) laser warning system components for US Army helicopters.

• Boeing and iRobot deliver first 30 model 310 small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGVs) for the USAF’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team under a 2-year, $3.84 million contract.

• “I Was a Rare Earths Day Trader.” Despite all of the alarm about this issue, it did not go well.

• Rheinmetall denies rumors it is in talks with Northrop Grumman about takeover, while it completes purchase of Verseidag Ballistic Protection, a German maker of military vehicle protection systems.

• Japan is studying ways to provide logistics support for any US military actions on the Korean Peninsula, says Japanese Defense Minister Kitazawa.

• KBR moves to expand revenue base beyond US logistics work in Afghanistan under its LOGCAP IV contract.

• Portable pure oxygen generator for battlefield ER among products featured at UK MOD’s small business R&D contract award showcase.

• “I’ll be back”: Is the military losing control of its robots?

• Czechs budget funds to back their new membership in NATO’s E-3 AWACS pool. For reference, CZK 90 million upkeep = $4.9 million now, and CZK 170 million for modernization = $9.25 million.

• General Dynamics Electric Boat recruiting engineers for next generation SSBN “boomer” to replace the Ohio Class. Work on the nuclear missile compartment is already underway.

• EastWest Institute releases study examining the national security implications and approaches to cybersecurity.