$18.2M for Super Hornet Engine Long-Lead Materials

F414-GE-400 engine

General Electric Co., Aircraft Engines Business Group, Lynn, MA received an $18.2 million firm-fixed-price advanced acquisition contract for long-lead materials associated with the FY 2007 full rate production of 96 F414-GE-400 jet engines. An improved version of the popular F404, the F414 currently equips the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft, each of which requires two engines.

Work will be performed in Lynn, MA (46%); Madisonville, KY (22%); Hooksett, NH (13%); Rutland, VT (6%); Albuquerque, NM (6%); Wilmington, NC (3%); Dayton, OH (2%); Evendale, OH (1%), and Bromont, Canada (1%), and is expected to be complete in January 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD issued the contract (N00019-06-C-0088).

$8.6M for Precision Weapon Fuzes

JDAM

Kaman Dayron in Orlando, FL recently received an $8.6 million firm-fixed-price contract modification. The money will be used to increase the manufacturing capacity for the Joint Programmable Fuze (JPF) system via a second production line and design modifications, in order to achieve a production rate commensurate with a projected increase in government demand. The JPF is a state-of-art fuze system used with precision weapon systems like the JDAM GPS-guided bomb, and offers variable delay settings that may be programmed manually or from the cockpit through its in-flight reprogramming feature.

Work will be performed at Kaman Aerospace Corp. in Bloomfield, CT. Solicitations began in September 2005, negotiations were complete April 2006, and work will be complete September 2007. The Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, FL issued the contract (F08626-98-C-0006/ P00065).

Canada & Holland Order 17 SIRIUS Shipboard Long-Range IRST Sensors

RNN De Zeven Provincien

The Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) and the Royal Netherlands Navy have ordered 17 SIRIUS Long-Range Infrared Search and Track (LR-IRST) Systems for a total of $142 million. The Canadian Commercial Corporation in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada issued the contract on behalf of both parties, which calls for installation on all 12 of Canada’s FFH Halifax Class multi-role frigates, plus a land based combat trainer; the Netherlands is ordering another four systems for installation on their LCF De Zeven Provincien Class air defence and command frigates, bringing the grand total to 17 systems. The contracts also include logistic services and the supply of spare parts.

SIRIUS was jointly developed by DRS Technologies and Thales Naval Nederland, and was designed to be especially useful in the expeditionary combat domain and littorals, where the risk of asymmetric threats like fast suicide attack boats remains high.

USA Broadening Conservation Focus to Weapons Systems

LHA-R: go nuclear?
(click to expand)

The Pentagon’ has increased its attention to energy conservation in the wake of a recent Army Corps of Engineers report, as well as its rising outlays for fuel. House Armed Services committee force Projection subcommittee chair Rep. Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD] is looking at current and projected fuel prices, and asking seriously about expanding the use of nuclear power plants in the US Navy. Others are floating technologies like KiteShips. Meanwhile, Inside Defense adds further insights as the breadth of the issue and its implications seep in at the Pentagon:

“A departmental focus on improving energy conservation in weapon systems would represent a change from the current DOD emphasis on reducing energy consumption at its facilities. One observer familiar with the Pentagon’s energy programs says there appears to be “growing recognition” within the department that the energy conservation issue is much broader than facilities.

5 Euro Shipbuilders form Materials Procurement Club

Five major European naval shipbuilders have formed a “club” to promote synergies in materials procurement as part of broader efforts to reduce costs. Procurement represents approximately 60% of the cost of a typical warship program, and participating shipbuilders will work together cooperating with suppliers, establishing common technical specifications and coordinating purchasing. The Warship European Procurement (WEP) Club was set up by formal agreement among:

• BAE Systems
  
• DCN/Thales
  
• Fincantieri
  
• Navantia
  
• VT Shipbuilding Limited

See full release for company profiles.

$120M for JSF’s First 5 F135 Conventional Engines

F135 Assembly

United Technologies Corp. subsidiary Pratt & Whitney Military Engines in East Hartford, CT received a $120 million ceiling-priced cost-plus-incentive-fee, award-fee contract for the low rate initial product lot 1 procurement of five F135 jet engines systems for the Air Force Joint Strike Fighter F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing Aircraft. In addition, this contract provides for the procurement of associated initial spare engine and spare parts, support equipment, sustainment support, special tooling and test equipment, and technical/financial data.

Work will be performed in East Hartford, CT and is expected to be complete in January 2010. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-06-C-0292). See also April 28, 2006 corporate release.

$34.4M Contract for Bradley A3 Embedded Diagnositics & Upgrades (updated)

M2A3 Bradley

DRS Test and Energy Management Inc. in Huntsville, AL received a delivery order of $22.9 million as the initial part of a $34.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for chassis modernization/ embedded diagnostics kits for the Bradley A3 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Work will be performed in Huntsville, AL; Product deliveries are expected to begin in June 2007 and continue through March 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on Nov. 15, 2005 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Rock Island, IL (DAAE20-03-G-0001).

The A3 is the fully digitized version of the Bradley Fighting Vehicles. With respect to these upgrades…

Lockeed’s Sniper, Tiger Eyes & IRST to Equip Singapore’s F-15SGs

F-15 Strike Eagle

Lockheed Martin has been selected by The Boeing Company as the preferred supplier of advanced electro-optical sensor suites for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-15SG Strike Eagles. The five-year, fixed-price contract will include the sensor suites, spares, training, technical publications and complete logistics support. Deliveries will begin the second quarter of 2007, and the value of the contract award is undisclosed.

The advanced electro-optical sensor suite features a high-resolution, mid-wave, third-generation FLIR; a dual-mode laser; a charge-coupled device television; a laser spot tracker; a laser marker; a terrain following radar; and an IRST system. In more specific terms, the sensor suite includes Sniper/Pantera Advanced Targeting Pods, Tiger Eyes forward-looking infrared systems for targeting and navigation, and an Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for passive air-to-air detection.

$116.4M for Sensitive Information Facility at MacDill AFB

MacDill AFB
(click to view ful)

Clark Construction Group L.L.C. in Tampa, FL received a $116.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a new sensitive compartmental information facility at MacDill Air Force Base, FL. Work is expected to be complete by May 2008. There were 425 bids solicited on Jan. 10, 2006, and 4 bids were received by the Army Engineer District in Mobile, AL (W91278-06-C-0028).

MacDill AFB became home to the 6th Air Base Wing in 1994 with a primary mission of operating the base in support of large number of tenant and transient units including US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

$180M to Upgrade B-1 Bomber Fire Control Radars

B-1B drops WCMDs

The Boeing Company has received a 9-year, $180 million contract to upgrade the AN/APQ-164 fire control radar on the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of 67 B-1B long-range bomber aircraft under a Reliability and Maintainability Improvement Program (RMIP). Most of the RMIP kit will come from subcontractor Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Baltimore, MD. It comprises a new radar transmitter/receiver, a radar processor computer and a translated [DID: from its original programming language], rehosted software package.