• Just how deep is the US Navy’s budget crisis? Very deep, and it will soon spread to the other services. In the Navy’s case, the Congressional Budget Office says it’s underestimating the total cost of its 30-year shipbuilding plan by nearly 20%. That’s actually business as usual, but what if there’s less future money, not more? Information Dissemination asks: Perhaps it’s time for an unbalanced force?

• Russia in talks to buy 500 light armored vehicles for $260 million from French defense firm Panhard General Defense.

• Up to SEK 1.655 billion (about $260 million) to Saab to provide anti-armor projectiles for the 84mm Carl-Gustaf M3 man-portable weapon system. That’s a lot of rockets. For which customer? They won’t say.

• GAO says US Navy failed to consider alternative acquisition approaches to its $50 billion Next-Generation Enterprise Network, which is replacing the Navy Marine Corps Intranet.

• US Navy’s forthcoming MQ-4C BAMS long-range surveillance UAV finishes, but does not close out, its system-level Critical Design Review. The Global Hawk derivative is said to remain on schedule.

• US Army issues a sources-sought notice for RSTA components for Cerberus portable sensor tower, which is used at forward operating bases.

• DARPA kicks off voting for eXperimental Crowd-derived Combat-support Vehicle Design Challenge.

• Crunch time for General Dynamics and Boeing cases. They argue that the government improperly invoked the state secrets privilege, in order to hide information that would help them prove their side of cases surrounding the A-12 naval stealth fighter’s program cancellation liabilities.

• Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system is a “stupid idea” driven by the French military, according to OHB-System CEO Berry Smutny. Sorry, former CEO.

• Lockheed Martin says the Chinese J-20 unveiling has added urgency to F-35 sales discussions with JSF consortium partner Singapore, plus Japan and South Korea – with all 3 countries in active discussions with US officials.
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• Indian Aid: India pledges to assist Vietnam in modernizing its military equipment.

• Show US the Money: US wants NATO countries to put their money where their mouths are.

• Cyber Team: US government increases military role in thwarting cyber attacks on civilian infrastructure with signing of DoD-DHS memo [PDF].

• Noteworthy: Raytheon sells $2 billion in notes to pay off existing debt.

• ATK repurchases $275 million in convertible notes due 2024.

• CSC wins contract worth up to $270 million to provide support to the Missile Defense Agency.

• Lockheed Martin gets $24 million contract extension from the US Navy to provide acoustic processing and tracking capabilities to detect and track submarines.

• WIRED’s Danger Room offers a look at the key defense controversies and issues likely to land in the next Congress, after America’s November 2010 elections. Part 1: Missile Fights! Shipyard Showdown! | Part 2: Stealth Jet Faceoff! Wars Over War!

• Cash and Carry: Veritas Capital to pay $815 million in cash for Lockheed Martin’s Enterprise Integration Group, a supplier of engineering and management services to US DoD and other US federal agencies.

• Catching a Wavestream: Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks agrees to pay $130 million for Wavestream, a San Dimas, CA-based maker of high-power solid state amplifiers for the defense and broadcast satellite markets.

• Up to $300 million to BAE Systems for virtualization upgrades to the US Defense Intelligence Agency’s computer workstations.

• Drug Deal: CSC wins contract worth up to $95 million to operate DoD’s Pharmacy Data Transaction Service.

• Cambridge International Systems to provide $6 million maritime surveillance system for the Iraqi Navy under a US Navy SPAWAR contract.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded 4 contracts worth up to $1.5 billion to provide financial management services in support of the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) program.

The MDA is expected to spend more $100 billion over the lifetime of the BMD program. The agency has come under criticism from the GAO for its lack of transparency and accountability.

“MDA’s flexible acquisition approach has limited the ability for DOD and congressional decision makers to measure MDA’s progress on cost, schedule, and testing…MDA’s baselines have been inadequate to measure progress and hold MDA accountable. However, GAO also reported that new MDA initiatives to improve baselines could help improve acquisition accountability.”

To help it improve financial accountability, the MDA is turning to 4 contractors:

AGM-154 JSOW, loading

The US Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk Contracting Department’s Philadelphia Office recently awarded a trio of contracts that provide program management and technical support services for the Naval Operational Logistics support Center’s Ordnance Information System, which is used for the important job of tracking US Navy ammunition, bombs, missiles, etc. located around the world.

The 3 contracts were competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce On-line, with 5 offers received. They are all 1-year contracts running to September 2011, with 4 one-year option year periods after that:

• Ready… or not? Baslisle report says US Navy readiness and maintenance issues extend to AEGIS radar and combat systems used for fleet and ballistic missile defense.

• Cutting Overhead: Lockheed Martin offers buyouts to company directors and vice presidents in an effort to comply with the Pentagon’s directive to cut overhead costs.

• Lost in Translation: Raytheon’s BBN Technologies secures $6.14 million order under DARPA’s MADCAT program to develop a prototype system that translates foreign language text for US soldiers in the field.

• SMILE: Indian Navy issues RFI for submarine mine laying equipment (SMILE) for its diesel-electric submarine fleet.

• Humvee power: DRS delivers its OBVP HMMWV, which generates more than 30kW of power that can be used on-board, or drawn on by soldiers or devices outside.

• Chillin’: Raytheon developing a next-generation 2-phase cooling system for US Office of Naval Research. Radars need cooling, and a more efficient system could allow higher power radars in smaller craft – or upgrades for larger ships.

• Labors of HERCULES: BAE Systems gets $70 million contract to convert 30 M88A1 hulls into M88A2 HERCULES armored recovery vehicles used to retrieve M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams tanks and Leopard tanks.

• What’re the odds? USA wants Japan to pay more for relocation of some US forces from Okinawa to Guam, amidst an election triggered by the US military’s continued presence on Okinawa.

• CSC wins a contract worth up to $220 million to provide IT support services to the US Navy’s Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education Command and the Naval Education and Training Command

• Accenture Research adds to a long list of reminders: Shortage of skilled workers could pose serious business challenge for North American aerospace and defense industry.

• GALE Winds: Raytheon’s BBN Technologies gets $17 million order for DARPA’s GALE program, which is developing software to transcribe, translate, and distill large volumes of information in foreign language for US military analysts.

• Retooling: Making tank cannons helped auto parts firm Barron Industries make the shift to defense supplier.

• Jane’s and Peru’s La Razon [in Spanish] report that Chile has chosen AMRAAM-based NASAMS-II surface-to-air missile systems, joining Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, and Finland.

• CSC snags up to $56 million in SeaPort-e task orders to provide the US Navy with computer simulation, engineering and model test support.

• General Dynamics gets $49 million contract to support USAF Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) and Project Liberty, which integrate data collected by UAVs and the MC-12 Liberty turboprop aircraft.

• Critics question the timing of the NY Times story on Afghanistan’s potential $1 trillion in mineral wealth – and the course of the war – but not the story’s facts. The Times’ James Risen defends his story, and says he’s been on it for some time now thanks to contacts in the geological survey teams.

• CSC gets SeaPort-E order worth up to $135 million to support Navy’s PEO Aircraft Carriers, which is responsible for managing the design, development, construction, modernization, and lifecycle of US Navy aircraft carriers.

• BAE signs a deal to use Iveco’s SUPERAV 8×8 amphibious wheeled APC as the basis for the US Marines’ upcoming MPC competition. That doesn’t look like good news for BAE’s own SEP; Patria Oyj & Lockheed announced an AMV MPC entry in 2007...

• India’s Samay Live reports tough conditions attached to use of Pakistan’s new F-16s...

• LOGIR guided 70mm rocket test goes well, moving the USN/ROK effort closer to joining a crowding field of offerings.

• SAIC snags follow-on contract worth up to $49 million to support video processing capability of USAF DCGS, a globally networked ISR system.

• Russia moves to keep up, with new President-S helicopter active protection system to defeat portable anti-aircraft missiles. Irony alert: most of the missiles likely to threaten Russian helicopters these days are Russian designs.

• Environmental Tectonics wins $38 million contract to supply 4 USAF research altitude chambers to study pilots’ reactions to high-altitude flight.

• Up to $16.6 million to IntelliScience to supply digital imagery analysis systems to Defense Threat Reduction Agency for WMD detection.

• Honeywell gets $4.6 million US Army contract to develop micro-grid technology to provide power in remote locations and improve efficiency of existing generators.

• Defense executive panel offers advice to contractors on future industry challenges.

• Nordic Alliance proposal continues to make political progress.

• ASDReports.com: Global market for armored vehicles will reach $10.3 billion, fueled by continued IED threat.

• US Army: “Review drops two-war force size paradigm,” changing the assumptions used to set required military forces.

• “American Civil Liberties Union” sues the government, asking for in-depth information about the use of UAV strikes in foreign wars.

• CSC snags 5-year, $27 million contract to provide IT to US DoD’s Dependents Schools-Europe, which runs 81 schools for the children of US military.

• Cubic in San Diego, CA will supply small arms training systems to Saudi Arabia under a $30 million contract.

• Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird Warrior helicopter UAV completes resupply trials with US Marines. Main competition is Kaman’s K-MAX.

• USAF continues its shift from cost-plus contracts toward fixed-cost, for the F-35 program. Meanwhile, the first production model F-35B hovers in a test.

• Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Release 1.1 (Single Supply Solution) goes live at Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP). Sounds simple. Isn’t, in practice.

• General Dynamics gets $30.6 million contract to supply 118 Type-3 advanced mission computers for the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft.

• Czech firm Aero Vodochody says it will supply 40 cockpits for the US Blawk Hawk troop transport and utility helicopter.