It’s that time of year again. Octagon Process, Inc. in Edgewater, NJ received a maximum $12.8 fixed price with economic price adjustment requirements-type contract with a base period of one year and 2 one year options for deicing-defrosting and anti-icing fluids. Using services are Navy and Air Force. Of course, if you fly aircraft, it’s always that time of year.

Other locations of performance are New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Michigan, Colorado, Louisiana, Utah, Washington, and Alaska. Proposals were Gateway solicited with 1 response, and the date of performance completion is Jan. 7, 2008. The Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR) in Richmond, VA issued the contract (SPM4A6-07-D-2549).

Shadow 200 in Iraq

Since being deployed to Iraq at the outset of military operations in early 2003, Shadow UAV units have flown more than 17,000 sorties and 76,000 flight hours in support of U.S. and allied operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom. DID has covered some of those experiences and lessons learned.

Now United Industrial Corporation subsidiary AAI Corp. has received $152.7 million in contracts for 36 Shadow UAVs, associated systems, and support. Details re: the contracts, and systems, follow below….

SLAM-ER Highlights

The USA Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Turkey of 50 AGM-84K Joint Standoff Land Attack Missiles-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) as well as associated equipment and services.

As DID has previously noted, Boeing’s SLAM-ER is an advanced derivative of the Harpoon missile, and competes with precision attack missiles like Lockheed’s JASSM, and European missiles like the EADS Taurus KEPD 350 and the MBDA Storm Shadow. It is deployed with the US Navy, and will be deployed on the South Korea’s new F-15K Strike Eagles. Turkey will use the SLAM-ER as a medium-range standoff weapon on its F-16 aircraft, where it will complement the recently acquired but shorter-range Lockheed JSOW precision glide bomb. The order includes…

MTVR from C-130

Defense Tech notes a recent R&D project from Oak Ridge National Laboratory that’s finally moving to the field. It seems minor, but could have big implications:

“The latest Weigh-in-Motion scale is meant to improve the process for preparing vehicles for airload, as it “automatically identifies the equipment, determines the individual axle weights, distance between axles, total vehicle weight, profile and center of balance.” It sounds boring, but this is the crucial data that has to be identified to safely load vehicles on cargo planes for transport, and any slight change in the way equipment is loaded on a vehicle means recalculating everything. Since the information is currently calculated in a very low-tech manner by NCOs and officers with minimal training in how to do so (I used to be one), this step in deployment-prep is often done well in advance and the prepared vehicles (and materiel on them) are then quarantined….”

With predictable effects on training. Read David Axe’s article for more.

A-10s with LITENING

RAFAEL joint-venture partner Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Rolling Meadows, IL received a maximum $275 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm fixed price contract from the USA for LITENING targeting pods, upgrades, support equipment, training, related logistics support, and pod integration support. It will support F-16 Falcon, F-15E Strike Eagle, A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II, and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft belonging to the US Air Force, Air National Guard, USAF Reserve Command, and US Marine Corps. While the version was not specified, all three services have been receiving LITENING AT pods lately. The Air Force can issue delivery orders totaling up to the maximum amount indicated above, although actual requirements may be less than the amount indicated above. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH (FA8607-04-D-2751).

Designed to improve both day and night attack capabilities, LITENING pods provide pilots with advanced image processing for target identification and coordinate generation, a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, charge-coupled device television (CCD-TV) sensors, a laser spot tracker/ range finder, and infrared laser marker/ designators. It is fully operational 24 hours a day and in adverse weather conditions.

RAFAEL’s LITENING pod has become exceptionally popular around the world due to its exceptional performance/cost ratio, and has even begun to spin off dedicated reconnaissance derivatives. See DID’s focus article for more details, including front-line reports and an international customer list.

CV 67 JFK: Night Shift

Small business qualifier Noesis Inc. in Manassas, VA received a not-to-exceed $25 million Phase III Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program contract for Topic N01-158 entitled “Enhanced Propeller Visibility.” The objective of the topic is to enhance aircraft propeller awareness to improve ground crew safety through further research and development of the Low Light Level Illuminator (LLLI) coatings for propellers and rotors on military aircraft.

Noesis notes that in the past 3 years alone, two sailors have been killed in propeller accidents related to low-visibility conditions. The sequence of the awards matches the usual sequence of successful SBIR/STTR innovations, a process DID has covered before. For this innovation, the process was as follows:

Shaw Environmental Inc. in Stoughton, MA received a $23 million firm-fixed-price contract for the design, purchase, and installation of equipment to modernize the white phosphorous facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal, AR. White phosphorous is an extremely effective smoke generator, especially for small size devices like grenades or mortars. It also has some uses as an incendiary, and its combustability in warm weather or upon handling can make it dangerous.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, Pine Bluff’s original mission was as a manufacturing center for magnesium and thermite munitions…

Small business qualifier Essan Metallix Corp. in Hartwell, GA received a $5.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for stainless steel sheets and plates. Work will be performed in Hartwell, GA and is expected to be complete by March 31, 2006. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on June 9, 2005, and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Rock Island, IL issued the contract (W52H09-05-P-6162).

Veteran-owned business Buie Wholesale Supply Ltd. in Boerne, TX received a maximum $11.5 million fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for lumber, plywood, millwork, wood working tools and machinery prime vendor for Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Federal Civilian Agencies, and Foreign Military Sales.

MGPTS module

Johnson Outdoors in Binghamton, NY is being awarded a maximum $15.9 million firm fixed price contract for Army Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps for Modular General Purpose Tent Systems (MGPTS).