$48.5M to Alion for Torpedo Detection System R&D and Testing

Alion Science and Technology in McLean, VA received a task order (N00178-04-D-4066) from the US Navy valued at $48.5 million to research, design, develop, prototype, integrate and test a new torpedo detection system in conjunction with the Navy’s anti-torpedo countermeasure technology effort.

The task order, awarded under the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport’s Seaport-Enhanced (Seaport-e) contract, supports the Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) Undersea Defensive Warfare Systems Program Office with anti-torpedo torpedo defensive system (ATTDS) torpedo detection, classification and localization (TDCL) technology.

Seaport-e is a $5.3 billion multiple-award umbrella contract that lets the US Navy use an integrated approach to contracting for support services.

The ATTDS TDCL is a project [PDF] within the Navy’s Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) program.

Solpac to Build USMC Camp Pendleton Fitness Center

Solpac Construction (dba Soltek Pacific Construction Co.) in San Diego, CA won a $5.8 million firm-fixed-price task order (#0011) under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8615) to build an indoor fitness facility in the Horno area (53) at US Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California.

The company will also demolition existing buildings 53302 and 53569 to make room for the fitness center. It expects to complete construction by September 2010. For this task order, 5 proposals were received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest in San Diego, CA.

Soltek recently completed a fitness center at Camp Pendleton’s Camp Margarita area (33)…

Azimuth to Research Ways to Protect Sensors from Directed Energy Threats

Space-based sensors
could be vulnerable

Azimuth Corp in Dayton, OH received a $50 million contract to conduct hardening and survivability research designed to protect sensors from directed energy threats. The contract is being awarded under the US Air Force’s Hardened Materials Research and Survivability Studies program, which is intended to study materials technologies, interactions, and/or applications to improve the survivability of military systems.

Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 1 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio manages the contract (FA8650-09-D-5434).

A 2007 report by a US Defense Science Board task force identified the potential use of directed energy to disrupt sensors…

Up to $100M for NAVFAC Pacific Construction Design Support

Moffatt & Nichol in Long Beach, CA won a maximum $100 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity architect/ engineer (A/E) contract for design support services for various waterfront/ marine projects covered by the Defense Policy Review Initiative and other projects in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific area of responsibility (AOR).

The Defense Policy Review Initiative established [PDF] a framework for the relocation of American military units in Japan to other areas. “US Military Gearing up on Guam” has more on the US Marine Corps plan to shift 8,000 Marines from Japanese bases to Guam.

Moffatt & Nichol expects to perform the work in the NAVFAC Pacific AOR, and complete it by August 2014. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 4 proposals received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific in Pearl Harbor, HI (N62742-09-D-0002). The company will provide a number of design support services to NAVFAC…

Saudis May Go Russian As France Loses Out

Mi-17V5, Venezuela

Augusta-Bell 212 and 412 twin-Hueys, and Bell 205 single-engine Hueys, currently form the mainstay of Saudi Arabia’s current helicopter fleet. The RSAF also includes a squadron of AH-64A Apache attack helicopters, some S-70A-1L Black Hawks with desert modifications, AS365F Dauphins in naval attack and SAR (Search And Rescue) variants, AS532 Cougar SAR aircraft, AS332F-1 Super Pumas, Bell 406CS combat scouts, and a few Kawasaki/Boeing KV-107s (CH-46 Sea Knight variant) used in MEDEVAC (MEDical EVACuation) roles. In July 2006, “The 2006 Saudi Shopping Spree: “More Helicopters from Eurocopter” reported a tentative agreement for up to 132 helicopters: 54 NH90 TTH troop transports, 10 NH90 NFH naval, 32 AS 550 Fennec light helicopters, 20 AS 532-A2 Cougar CSAR(Combat Search And Rescue) helicopters, 4 AS 565 Panther naval CSAR helicopters, and 12 Tiger attack helicopters.

In October 2007, Defense-Aerospace, who announced the original agreement, announced that it has fallen through and been supplanted by a $2.2 billion Russian order. The expected French order has indeed been missing ever since, but reports of the claimed Russian order were also absent – until now.

DTC to Build US Armed Forces Reserve Center in Puerto Rico

DTC Engineers & Constructions in Hamden, CT won a $19 million firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of an Armed Forces Reserve Center (AFRC) in Mayaguez, PR, with an estimated completion date of June 3/11. Bids were posted on the Web with 8 bids received by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Louisville District in Kentucky (W912QR-09-C-0067).

DTC will build a 75,000-sq-ft AFRC training building, a 21,000-sq-ft vehicle maintenance shop (VMS), an 1,800-sq-ft unheated storage facility, and provide 10,000 square yards for organizational parking, antiterrorism measures and building information systems. Buildings will be permanent construction with HVAC systems, plumbing, mechanical systems, security systems, and electrical systems. Supporting facilities include land clearing, paving, fencing, general site improvements, and extension of utilities. Physical security measures will be incorporated into the design, including maximum standoff distance from roads, parking areas, and vehicle unloading areas.

The USACE is also looking to build an AFRC at Fort Buchanan in San Juan…

Standing Up the IqAF: King Air 350s

IqAF King Air 350

It has been a long road for the Iraqi Air Force. According to Iraqi figures, the IqAF boasted more than 1,000 aircraft before the 1991 Gulf war – and around 300 after it. More than 6 years after Operation Iraqi Freedom began, and 4 years after the first Iraqi Provisional government was formed, the once-mighty IqAF still operates just a handful of mostly-unarmed propeller aircraft and helicopters.

Unarmed aircraft can still offer value, of course. Surveillance is critically important to Iraq, especially surveillance of national infrastructure like telecommunications lines, pipelines, and other facilities. In addition to its Cessna “Bird Dogs” and handful of other light spotter planes, the IqAF is strengthening its fleet with an unlikely star of the Iraq War: Hawker Beechcraft’s propeller-driven King Air.

87 Squadron has begun all-Iraqi operations with the new equipment, but recent articles and announcements illustrate that there’s a lot more to fielding new equipment than just signing the contract.

$99M to ATI for Shipbuilding Technology Development Center

Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) in North Charleston, SC received a $99 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to operate and manage the Shipbuilding Technology Center of Excellence (STCOE) to develop shipbuilding-related manufacturing technologies and to implement them in America’s shipyards. The STCOE will work closely with the US Navy’s acquisition community and the shipbuilding industry to identify manufacturing technology issues that have a negative impact on shipyard efficiency (cycle-time and cost). The STCOE will then solicit, select, and implement projects to improve these inefficiencies.

ATI will perform the work in North Charleston, SC and expects to complete it by August 2014. This contract was competitively procured under a Request For Proposals (N00014-09-R-0004), with 2 offers received by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, VA (N00014-09-D-0584).

Under the contract, ATI will carry out a number of STCOE tasks for the US Navy…

Up to $93.3M to Petro Star to Supply Fuel

Small business qualifier Petro Star in Anchorage, AK won a maximum $93.3 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for fuel. Other location of performance is Valdez, AK.

There were originally 72 proposals solicited with 19 responses. The date of performance completion is Oct 30/10. The Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) in Fort Belvoir, VA manages the contract (SP0600-09-D-0513).

Russia’s Changing Aircraft Industry: Models and Futures

Emerging clusters, 2005

Russia’s aircraft industry remains one of the country’s defense export standbys, and Russian companies are beginning to partner with foreign firms in ways that could increase their reach. In December 2005, Moscow Defense Brief took a look at key trends, especially the consolidation trends as private maneuverings and state ‘encouragement’ to join a “Unified Aircraft-Building Corporation” (UABC) began to consolidate the various players.

At the time, names like Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Antonov, Ilyushin, Yakolev et. al. appeared to be coalescing around Irkut Corporation, with a second smaller pole around Sukhoi. Recent events are shifting away a French “sesquipolar” model, and toward a unipolar model. The question is whether this will result in success and profitability for a Russian defense industry that is struggling to regain its footing. Recent announcements at the MAKS 2009 indicate that more financial aid is on the way, but the powers that be are less than happy…

• Makienko’s 2005 Analysis
  
• Key Events & Developments
  
• Additional Readings