Schoolkids in Guam

Dick Pacific Construction Co. Ltd. in Barrigada, Guam received $37.6 million modification P00001 under previously awarded firm-fixed price contract N62742-05-C-1308, for construction of the new Cdr. William C. McCool Elementary & Middle School at Naval Forces Marianas Support Activity, Guam. Work will be performed in Guam and is expected to be complete by May 2008. This contract was competitively procured with 22 proposals solicited and 3 offers received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific in Pearl Harbor, HI issued the contract.

Falcon-1: first launch
(click to see problem)

DID covered the SpaceX’s Falcon-1 and its inaugural launch failure this Monday, as well as the programs impacted by its failure. Now SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has stepped up with a preliminary analysis of what happened:

“The good news is that all vehicle systems, including the main engine, thrust vector control, structures, avionics, software, guidance algorithm, etc. were picture perfect. However, at T+25s, a fuel leak of currently unknown origin caused a fire around the top of the main engine that cut into the first stage helium pneumatic system. On high resolution imagery, the fire is clearly visible within seconds after liftoff. Once the pneumatic pressure decayed below a critical value, the spring return safety function of the pre-valves forced them closed, shutting down the main engine at T+29s. It does not appear as though the first stage insulation played a negative role, nor are any other vehicle anomalies apparent from either the telemetry or imaging.”

Note that a formal, comprehensive investigation by SpaceX and the U.S. government will follow. Musk adds:

JASSM with F-16

The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (AGM-158 JASSM) semi-stealth cruise missile’s faced development troubles in 2005. Its 2006 budgetary allocations were $67 million for continued research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E), and another $98.7 million for procurement of 75 missiles plus support. More recently Australia selected it while an $80 million USAF contract was awarded for Lot 5 unit production of 70 missiles plus support and minor R&D activities.

One missing element was a weapon datalink to allow in-flight updates of the missile status and targeting, plus the transmission of weapon position data up to the time of impact. This is currently present in the USA’s Tactical Tomahawk Block IV and the Navy’s SLAM-ER, but not in JASSM or in competing stealthy cruise missiles like the Taurus 350 or MBDA Storm Shadow. That’s about to change…

We had to bomb Vietnam
flying through 10” of rain…

We couldn’t resist this bit of writing from Military.com SoldierTech’s EA-18G description, covering the existing EA-6B Prowler tactical jamming aircraft:

“The aging Prowler has been in service for 40 years—and it shows—the Prowler is unable to keep up with newer strike aircraft. Chugging along at .72 Mach, it is significantly slower than the fleet aircraft it’s meant to protect, like an elderly grandfather on Halloween escorting trick-or-treaters on a sugar high.”

Well, chug a few espresso, grandpa, because until the EA-18Gs show up, you’re the only tactical jamming aircraft America has got. Make that $73.25 million worth of espresso, via an FY 2006 firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, N.Y. for AN/ALQ-218 Tactical Jamming System Receivers. How many does that cover? What do those do?

AEHF concept

Integral Systems, Inc. in Lanham, MD received a $21.5 million cost-plus award-fee, firm-fixed-price contract modification to modify the Command and Control System-Consolidated (CCS-C) effort to support the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite program. As a Crosslink Magazine article referenced in DID’s comprehensive roundup of the USA’s future SATCOM architecture notes, The CCS-C is the integrated command and control system being developed to support all US military satellite communications satellite constellations, both current and future. It will replace the current command and control functions of the Air Force Satellite Control Network, and began operations with existing Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS III) and MilStar satellites on Dec 15, 2005. See also this case study re: automated conversion of code to C++ as part of this effort.

This action will consolidate all CCS-C efforts for AEHF Satellite Vehicles 1, and 2, and 3 as a cost saving measure. The CCS-C program will eventually encompass the Defense Satellite Communication System, the Milstar series, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency constellation, and Wideband Gapfiller Satellites. The scheduled completion date is June 2010 under the contract issued by the Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA (F04701-01-C-0012-P00088).

Aerojet-General Corp. in Sacramento, CA received an $11.4 million cost-plus fixed-fee contract modification to evaluate, develop, and demonstrate “innovative post boost propulsion concepts.” It exercises option 1 of the Phase II baseline program for research and development to and component technologies to support the Minuteman III nuclear missiles. The scheduled completion date is June 2008. The Headquarters 526th ICBM Systems Wing at Hill Air Force Base, UT issued the cotract (FA8402-05-C-0036-P00002).

MTRS: iRobot Packbot

iRobot Corp., maker of those neat little Roomba home vacuuming robots and Scooba mop-replacement robots, recently announced a new contract delivery order to build additional bomb disposal robots for shipment to the U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under the terms, iRobot will deliver an additional 213 iRobot PackBot Man Transportable Robotic Systems (MTRS), plus spare parts to repair robots in the field. The new award of $26 million marks the third round of funding by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), bringing the total value of the orders placed to date to more than $43 million.

Banned in Boot Camp…

The US Army is also involved in the MTRS tri-service procurement program, just as the Packbots are one of two robot types approved for use under this program. Foster-Miller, purchased by the British defense research firm QinetiQ in November 2005, also supplies its TALON IV robots to the program, while supporting previous versions in the field like the TALON III. DID covered the entire MTRS program in-depth back in September 2005, including the program structure (which includes the latest iRobot delivery) and the robots involved. A subsequent December 2005 article covered the Bombot, a much smaller and cheaper robot designed as an explicit alternative to MTRS.

Sticker shock

Following our reports today covering the USA’s recent purchase of $3.15 billion worth of various fuels and almost $230 million worth of electricity over the past week, it seems like a fuller picture is in order. A CNN online article notes that according to the Defense Energy Support Center, the U.S. military consumed 144.8 million barrels of fuel in 2004, spending $6.7 billion. In 2005, it consumed only 128.3 million barrels, but spent $8.8 billion. For 2006, the energy support center estimates the military will need 130.6 million barrels and pay more than $10 billion.

Fears of shortages after Hurricane Katrina gave the issue even more urgency, and set in motion a cascade of events from Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England’s September 2005 fuel conservation memo, to by a December 2005 directive asking all defense facilities to cut their energy consumption and increase the use of renewable energy sources. The goal is reduce energy consumption by 2% each year, while increasing renewable energy use to 7.5% of total demand by 2013 and 25% by 2025.

B-52H: gas guzzler

There are certain to be procurement-related implications from these moves up and down he chain. Re-engining the USA’s 1950s-era B-52 bombers was previously dismissed as not worth it, but odds are pretty good that it will happen in the new climate. DID’s March 17, 2006 “Energy Conservation Moving Up Pentagon’s Agenda” article describes a number of other initiatives that are already underway, excerpts and links to a key report from the US Army Corps of Engineers covering future military sustainability, and offers (updated) information about the Pentagon’s upcoming inter-agency Energy Conversation events at the end. We enjoyed seeing Rep. Bartlett’s [R-MD] office quote and reference that article in the invitation to former CIA director R. James Woolsey’s upcoming talk.

As DID noted in its March 17 article “Energy Conservation Moving Up Pentagon’s Agenda,” the truth is that the military can’t live without fuel, but every gallon of it is both a logistics burden and a financial burden.

Over the past week, the US Defense Logistics Agency has announced approximately $3.15 billion worth of fuel contracts for jet fuel, diesel, naval distillate, and turbine fuel via the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) at Fort Belvoir, VA. The totals include $2.1 billion for diesel and jet fuel, $1.01 billion for turbine fuel, and $35.7 million for naval distillate. DID covers these contracts below:

Electricity isn’t often thought of as a major buy item for the US military, but firm-fixed-price contracts for electrical power over the past week have totaled about $228.3 million, and covered only locations in MD and NJ. There were 79 proposals solicited by the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) in Fort Belvoir, VA, and 15 responded. Customers for these contracts include the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and federal civilian agencies; and the date of performance completion is December 31, 2007.

Contract winners included: