• South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak lays out a 3-step process for reunification of the peninsula. It is not a return to his predecessor’s anti-American “sunshine policy,” and includes a reunification tax to begin preparing for the massive costs of either peaceful reunification, or regime collapse.

• China set to test DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile. USA finishes first test of the supersonic GQM-163 Coyote High Diver, which may help simulate those attacks for defensive systems.

• Exit, Stage Left: US Defense Secretary Gates plans to retire next year before the presidential election season heats up, after serving in the position since 2006.

• Canada’s frigate replacement program slammed as late and over budget – and it hasn’t even started yet.

• Lots of Green: DoD spent $29.8 billion on environmental cleanup from 1986 to 2008, but still hasn’t cleaned up Fort Meade, MD, and 2 other US military bases, according to a GAO study due out this week.

• Checking under the Hood: SAIC gets a DLA contract worth up to $241 million to provide logistics support for US military vehicle maintenance depots, including the Anniston Army Depot in Anniston, AL, and the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, TX.

• Russian completes the MiG-31BM modernization program to enhance its interceptor fleet.

• Private Security, No Thanks: Afghan President Karzai said his government will disband private security companies that operate in his country within 4 months, a deadline that leaves NATO unsure how it will fill the personnel gap, the Washington Post reports.

• Good Morning, Vietnam: Is US attempt to strengthen ties with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries to counter China a mistake? Wall Street Journal | Christian Science Monitor | Center for Research on Globalization.

• Chasing Butterflies: DARPA awards GE-led team a $6.3 million contract to develop butterfly-inspired nanostructured sensors to detect dangerous warfare agents and explosives.

Insight Technology in Londonderry, NH won a not-to-exceed $15 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery /indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of miniature reflex sights (MRS) in 2 configurations along with cleaning kits and spare parts.

The MRS is a small, passive, reflex weapon sight intended for close quarters combat applications. The sight is mounted on top of existing day sights, night optics, or other sighting devices to provide a secondary rapid aiming and engagement capability…

OM Group in Cleveland, OH agreed to acquire EaglePicher Technologies, a Joplin, MO-based manufacturer of batteries, battery management systems and energetic devices for the defense, aerospace, and medical industries, from EaglePicher Corp. for $171.9 million.

In fiscal year 2009, EaglePicher recorded revenues of approximately $125 million, of which approximately 60% came from its defense business, approximately 31% from its aerospace business, and the balance from its medical and other businesses…

David’s Victory
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David didn’t need high technology to defeat Goliath, just some stones and a sling. But in the modern world, David is getting some high-tech help from the likes of Raytheon and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, who are developing a missile defense system called David’s Sling Weapon System (DSWS).

The DSWS is a joint short-range ballistic missile defense program between the US Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization. The system is designed to defeat short-range ballistic missiles, large-caliber rockets and cruise missiles in their terminal phase of flight.

Raytheon received 2 contracts from Rafael worth more than $100 million to build DSWS components…

Celebrate Good Times…
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Bulova Technologies in Tampa, FL received a contract worth up to $41.2 million to supply pyrotechnics to the US Army.

The word pyrotechnics comes from the Greek for fireworks. The US military, however, uses pyrotechnics not for celebration but for illumination, marking, and signaling.

Pyrotechnics, ranging from flares to signals, provide important military capabilities, such as communication, illumination, training and protection…

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Small business qualifier Donovan Commercial Industries, Inc. in Nortonville, KY is being awarded an $8.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for the Low Hazard Flexible Linear Shaped Charge. It’s a form of explosive cutting tape, which is typically used to produce precise cuts in metal and other substances. Think of it as an instant and very powerful plasma torch, whose design makes it safer to carry and much faster to use. The V-shaped charge enclosed in foam comes in 5 lengths and various grains per foot of explosive, in order to provide precise calibration to the difficulty of the job. This design also produces less shrapnel, which makes it a lot safer than existing explosives used for this purpose by the military, and by civilian construction firms building bridges and other large structures.

Work will be performed in Nortonville, KY and is expected to be complete by June 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $67,523 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via Federal Business Opportunities, with 1 offer received by the energetics specialists at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-08-D-JM11).

Donovan’s product is available to qualified civilian firms, and is picking up market share on that front as well. The executive we spoke to did express a desire for a qualified individual who could help them with the growing volume of media and other PR-related inquiries they’re receiving. Nortonville is about 75 miles NNW of Nashville, or 50 miles west of Bowling Green.

Trophy on Stryker

In May 2006, “No Trophy for FCS, Iraq Troops – Raytheon HTK APS Selected” explained RAFAEL’s Trophy active protection system, which can defend against threats like anti-tank missiles, incoming tank shells, and even EFP land mines. Israel had delayed full deployment on own its tanks and APCs for budgetary reasons, but the lessons of the 2006 war in Lebanon drove home the need, and Trophy is headed into production and fielding as part of Israel’s Tefen procurement plan.

Now, the USA may have reached similar conclusions. From FBO Solicitation #N0017808R1002:

ORCWS-30 on Piranha IV

Elbit Systems and General Dynamics’ MOWAG subsidiary have signed a contract valued at EUR 44.8 Million (currently about $58 Million) to equip Belgium’s initial set of 138 Piranha III wheeled armored personnel carriers (similar to the Stryker /LAV-III base platform). The ORCWS-30 Overhead Remote Control Weapon Station shares a number of features with the RAFAEL RCWS-30 mounted on Czech Pandurs, including stabilization for firing on the move, missile options, and fold-flat features for air transport; but it isn’t the same system.

Other media reports confirm the contract amount and place the delivery dates at 2007-2012, but are unclear re: specific systems or numbers. A full vehicle type breakdown can be found in DID’s February 2006 in-depth coverage of the Belgian Piranha III deal.

UPDATE: DID has talked to MOWAG. This Elbit Systems order covers only 32 ORCWS-30s for the Piranha III C30s, plus electro-optical systems (i.e. thermal sights et, al.) and electronics for the entire Belgian Piranha III fleet.

IAAG
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Thales acquisition ADI Limited in Australia received a $6.9 million firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for Australian Acoustic Generators (AAG), Infrasonic Australian Acoustic Generators (IAAG) that can sound like ships, and related components. Tjhis equipment will be used by the USA’s Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Fleet. The contract also contains a provisioned spares contract line item, procured on a firm fixed-price basis.

Work will be performed in Uraidla, South Australia, and is expected to be complete by November 2009. The contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, FL (N51331-07-D-0006).

Israel Military Industries, Inc. in Ramat Hasharon, Israel received a $13.4 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-03-C-6518). It covers a Class I engineering change proposal for 19 ADM-141C improved tactical air-launched decoys (ITALD), to convert them to 18 advanced ITALD flight test vehicles and one advanced ITALD E3 test vehicle. IMI is the sole supplier to the US Navy of the aircraft-launched standoff decoys, which appear as “dummy” targets on enemy radar screens.

Work will be performed in Ramat Hasharon, Israel (84.2%); Eatontown, NJ (4.1%); the United Kingdom (3.7%), Lancaster, PA (2.7%), Hollister, CA (1.2%); San Diego, CA (1.2%); and Williston, VT (0.8%), and is expected to be complete in November 2007. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.