• The Department of Defense (DoD) announces that Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn will leave the post later this year. A replacement is expected to be found by the autumn.

• Two House Foreign Affairs sub-committees held a joint session to consider the extent of Somalia’s piracy and crime networks, the influence of the Islamist al Shabaab group and the growing humanitarian crisis affecting almost 3 million Somalis.

• More and more shipping companies are ignoring the UN’s IMO, and hiring armed guards to fight pirate attacks. The IMO is expected to cave soon, and introduce vetting procedures for guards.
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• Admiral Jonathan Greenert will be the next US Chief of Naval Operations. Information Dissemination  responds: “If we ignore ADM Greenert’s total failure at Fleet Forces Command, this is good news.”

• WikiLeaks cables reveal that elements in Japan are thinking about their own nuclear deterrence, as confidence in the USA’s alliance and nuclear guarantee weakens.

• “What Gates’ [NATO] speech shows more than anything is the strategic weakness of cooperative strategy… The value of burden sharing only exists when there are mutually shared threats to stability and security, not when there are mutually shared benefits of stability and security.” If so, what does that mean for the US Navy’s Seapower strategy?

• Deputy Defense Secretary William J Lynn tells the Aerospace Industry Association that it is important to preserve the manufacturing facilities, financial strength and durability of the defense industrial base in the face of spending cuts.

• In a news briefing on the eve of the Paris Air Show, the head of strategy and business development for Boeing’s Defense Space and Security Unit sees cyber-security and new unmanned aircraft programs as growth opportunities despite impending cuts to US defense expenditure. Sales to Asia, the Middle East and Latin America are also under consideration.

• Raytheon receives a contract from the US Air Force to produce the first airborne tactical hyperspectral sensor system. The Airborne Cueing and Exploitation System Hyperspectral (ACES HY) is an infrared sensor system developed to identify targets based on their spectral characteristics.

• As the US Department of Defense seeks greater energy efficiency across its operations, Honeywell and Safran sign a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture to deliver a new electric green taxiing system for aircraft.

• Australia’s Ministry of Defence announces that the tender for a $300 million five-year contract for the repair and maintenance of the Navy’s eight Anzac Class frigates has been released.

• Research and Markets publishes its Iran Defense and Security Report Q3 2011.

• Following last week’s pledge to improve defense ties between Israel and China, Xinhua reports on the social, economic and political factors driving the Israeli defense industry.

• As a British Government Minister declares that offensive cyber warfare is an integral part of the UK’s armory, the Ministry of Defence outline their new Materiel Strategy.

• Cassidian win contract to provide the Canadian Navy new technologies to detect and counter laser-based threats against its vessels.

• The US Navy announces that CVN 79, the 2nd Ford Class aircraft carrier, will be named the USS John F. Kennedy. It will continue the namesake legacy of the non-nuclear powered CV 67, retired in 2007.

• The U.S. Navy successfully tested the DDG 1000’s Integrated Power System (IPS) at full power at the Land Based Test Site located in Philadelphia, May 11.

• The U.S. Navy also approves ATK’s Hostile Fire Indication (HFI) capability upgrade for the AAR-47 Missile Warning System.

• Singapore’s ST Engineering announce the formation of a joint venture (JV) company with Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories. The JV will design, develop and produce advanced earth observation satellites.

• India’s Mahindra and Mahindra report a 6.4% year-on-year rise in fourth quarter net profit.

• Manufacturing Institute releases their “Roadmap for Education Reform for Manufacturing” – download full report here [PDF].

• Sen. Shaheen [D-NH] unveils Inspiration School Grant Program initiative to close the US robotics gap with Asian nations.

• US Army 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment provides lessons learned from Afghanistan [PDF].

• US-supplied W76-1 arming device would make Britain’s Trident SLBMs more accurate, Sandia National Lab test shows.

• BAE Systems to repair and maintain 6 Ticonderga-class (CG-47) guided missile cruisers under a US Navy MSMO dry dock contract.

• In addition, BAE snags US Navy contract, worth up to $165 million, to supply 40 Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm close defense gun mounts in 2011 and 2012.

• DARPA awards $2.7 million contract to Lockheed Martin to develop resilient command and control (RC2) for the US military.

• American Small Business League sues [PDF] the Department of Defense for refusing to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to Raytheon to ensure compliance with small business contracting rules.

• Fresh from its success in Gaza while mounted on a Merkava main battle tank, RAFAEL’s ASPRO-A/ Trophy active protection system against incoming shells, rockets and missiles (see video) has now finished tests in the USA, mounted on a Stryker/ LAV-III wheeled APC. The need for Trophy was one of the lessons learned from the 2006 Syrian-Iranian-Israeli war in Lebanon.

• In blast-resistant MRAP vehicles, ammunition is from MARS. Which solved a perplexing problem.

• “We can’t afford to stay fat, dumb and happy.” US Air Force Global Strike Command’s A9 directorate is working to apply critical self-assessment, and lessons learned.

• HMS Albion, HMS Sutherland and RFA Cardigan Bay, together with elements of 40 Commando Royal Marines, set sail as lead element of the UK’s Cougar 11 deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East. RFA Cardigan Bay is a sister ship to Largs Bay, which was just sold off to Australia.

• Lesson learned from Libya: don’t expect to fly Swedish JAS-39C/D Gripens on JP-5 naval aviation fuel. JP-5 is less likely to catch fire on board a carrier, but not so good for planes that need Jet A1 (similar to the USAF’s JP-8).

Craney Island Fuel Terminal
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Mid Eastern Builders in Chesapeake, VA won a $36.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for replacement of fuel storage tanks at Craney Island Fuel Terminal in Portsmouth, VA. Mid Eastern Builders will demolition the 19 aged bulk storage tanks and build 6 new tanks.

The company expects to complete the work by August 2012. The contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 6 proposals received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, VA (N40085-09-C-5037). According to Globalsecurity.org, Craney Island Fuel Terminal is the US Navy’s largest fuel facility in the United States…

Campbell Ewald Co. won an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for advertising and marketing services for the Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, TN. This contract is worth $146.2 million over the base year, and 4 one-year options could bring its total value to $806.5 million.

Most of this work will be performed at Campbell Ewald’s Warren, MI, facility and the base year ends in May 2010. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with 4 offers received by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk’s Contracting Department in Philadelphia, PA (N00189-09-D-Z040).

Campbell Ewald has been working with the Navy on recruiting-related contracts since 2000. In 2005, following a major account review, they scored a major $400+ million win. The firm is responsible for Navy campaigns like “Accelerate Your Life” and NavyforMoms.com, and has expanded the Navy’s reach into social networking communities. That Navy-related work has won over 80 industry awards since 2000. See also Campell Ewald’s release, which includes sample marketing segments.

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Booz Allen Hamilton in Norfolk, VA received a $25.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract to provide expertise in change management, organizational barrier identification and removal, and key enterprise performance metrics to the US Navy. This contract includes a base year and 4 one-year options, which if exercised, bring the total estimated value of the contract to $120.1 million.

Work will be performed in various locations around the continental United States (CONUS), and the base year will be complete by January 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured though Government-wide Points of Entry, Navy Electronic Commerce On-line, and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with 3 offers received by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk (N00189-08-D-0022).

SSN Cassabianca

France’s semi-private naval design & construction firm DCNS has signed a “purchase general contract” for R&D cooperation with Russia’s the Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, via Rosoboronexport. It is an amplification of the Letter of Intent the two companies signed during the 2006 Paris Euronaval exhibition.

Work is expected to include “technical relationships for hydrodynamic studies and experimentations… for surface ships as much as for submarines is within the R&D scope of the general contract.” DCNS release.

Changes in US anti-submarine warfare strategy have included the growing importance of dealing with super-quiet diesel-electric submarines in shallow-water littorals.

In response, one of the early-stage Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) approaches involves thinking entirely outside the sonar box. We talk about “submariner dolphins” – but maybe the creature they really need to emulate is the shark. Now a recent contract indicates that the US military is making real progress toward that goal…

On November 7, 2006 The US Department of Defense has awarded a Raytheon/ US Navy partnership a Performance Based Logistics Award (sub-system level) for performance based logistics that has improved the availability, reliability and mission success of the AN/AAS-44(v) forward looking infrared system for the H-60 Seahawk helicopter. This FLIR system allows H-60 aircrews to detect, track, classify, identify and attack targets such as fast patrol boats, mine-laying craft, or even land targets. Along with Raytheon, the award recognizes Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Fleet Readiness Center Southeast, and the Naval Inventory Control Point.

Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is in the fourth year of a 10-year firm fixed price contract valued at $123 million to provide performance based logistics and mission support for the AN/AAS-44(v) FLIR. “Performance-based logistics” is a global trend in advanced militaries; it can use a range of contract options, but its core focus is a shift from pay-per-part to paying for agreed-upon benchmarks of performance in reliability, availability, et. al. Award documentation notes that the Raytheon/ Navy AN/AAS-44(v) team has steadily maintained 100% availability and achieved a 40% growth in system reliability improvement. The program is also providing increased spares availability, a 65% improvement in logistics response time, and estimated savings and cost avoidance for the Navy of $31 million. Raytheon release.