“Lend me your ears”
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Northrop Grumman wins US Army Europe contract. (March 11/10)

The US military has come to rely more and more on contractors to provide linguist services to function effectively in non-English speaking regions. The need for these services is particularly acute in the Middle East and Central Asia where US troops are actively engaged.

An indication of what could go wrong with an unskilled linguist is illustrated in a short documentary video produced by journalist John McHugh of The Guardian newspaper. In the video, a US Army sergeant and an Afghan tribal elder engage in a conversation about Taliban rocket attacks.

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• CSBA Paper looks at potential US responses to China’s sea-denial doctrines: “Why AirSea Battle?” [PDF]. Defense Tech moves to strike up a conversation.

• Indian Air Force signs EUR 560 million contract for 12 AW101 VIP helicopters.

• Are trans-Atlantic defense partnerships viable? Wall Street Journal weighs in.

• So do European governments and firms, as ripples continue to spread from the KC-X tanker bid pullout by Round 1 winners EADS/Northrop Grumman.

• US and South Korea exercises prelude to that country taking over wartime operational control of its forces in 2012. Defense against WMD a focus. DoD article | CCTV.com report | AFP | Korea Herald | JoongAng Daily

• Navistar expects orders for US military trucks to raise profits in 2010.

• L-3’s STRATIS division wins $230.9 million contract recompete to provide intelligence support services to US and multinational forces in Iraq; division also snags $24.8 million US Special Ops imagery contract.

• Sikorsky’s H-92/CH-148 Cyclone naval helicopter prototype arrives in Canada for trials.

• Northrop demonstrates LITENING surveillance and targeting pod on a Super Hornet; Raytheon’s ATFLIR had been the only qualified option.

• South Africa: “Navy ready to defend World Cup.” We still don’t think that will be enough to stop the Brazilians.

L-3 Services, a Reston, VA-based subsidiary of L-3 Communications, received a $55.7 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N65236-07-D-5879) to support tactical satellite, telecommunications, information technology networking and psychological operations equipment for various US Navy customers.

L-3 Services will provide the following support: integration, production, test and evaluation, fielding, training, certification, maintenance, and life-cycle sustainment management…

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IEDs: The Aftermath
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Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems in Ellicott City, MD won a $318 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity time-and-material task order to provide operational support services for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) analytical support teams deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The task order is part of a broader contract (W91CRB-08-D-0024) issued April 25/08 by the US Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) to provide operations support services to JIEDDO. Other companies that received JIEDDO support contracts were BAE Systems (W91CRB-08-D-0025), ITT (W91CRB-08-D-0026), and CACI (W91CRB-08-D-0027). Each contract has a maximum value of $453 million.

JIEDDO is responsible for developing and coordinating US Department of Defense efforts to defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs)...

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Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in McLean, VA received a prime contract from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) to provide signature measurement, prediction, and analysis support.

US weapons developers require [pdf] signature measurement of foreign missiles and space weapons to support detection, early warning, discrimination, tracking, engagement, and assessment.

The single award, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract has a 3-year base period of performance, two 1-year options, and a total value of more than $19 million if all options are exercised.

Based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL, MSIC manages and produces scientific and technical intelligence on foreign missile and space systems.

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DLIFLC’s Immersion
Language Training
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Cox Construction in Vista, CA won a $13.4 million firm-fixed-price contract to build a general instruction building at the Presidio of Monterey, CA.

The building will include classrooms, offices, storage space, test control area, conference room, multi-purpose training areas, cultural rooms, and curriculum resource areas.

The Presidio is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), the US Defense Department’s primary center for foreign language instruction.

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ManTech International Corp. in Chantilly, VA won a 5-year, $286.5 million cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide scientific and engineering support services for the US Army Electronic Proving Ground (EPG) at Fort Huachuca, AZ.

ManTech will support testing of command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I), navigation, and sensor systems for reliability, availability and maintainability, electromagnetic interference and compatibility, and security.

The EPG, part of the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), is the Army’s primary test facility for C4I systems…

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CACI International received a $75 million task order to support the US Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) under the Technical Engineering Support Services (TESS) contract.

CACI was awarded the 5-year, $900 million TESS contract on Aug 19/09. York Telecom Corp. and DSCI also were awarded TESS contracts.

Under this task order, CACI will provide engineering and technical support to assist I2WD in developing and deploying US Army intelligence and information warfare systems…

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Stanley in Arlington, VA received $61 million in contracts to support the US intelligence community. One contract, worth $23 million, is a 2-year blanket purchase agreement with a ceiling of $23 million supporting the US Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE) at Fort Huachuca, AZ.

Two other contracts, worth a combined $38 million, are a 5-year fixed-price contract and a 10-year time-and-materials contract to provide systems engineering, cybersecurity and network engineering support services to unidentified US intelligence agencies.

Based at Fort Huachuca, the USAICoE trains and educates military intelligence personnel…

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SOS International in Reston, VA won a $136.2 million fixed-rate contract for linguist services in support of US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The contract is expected to run through Sept 25/14. Bids were solicited via the General Services Administration with 4 offers received. The US Army Corps of Engineers and Defense Intelligence Agency manage the contract (WHHM402-09-F-0658).