GMLRS Rockets: FRP-V Orders

M270 firing M30 GMLRS

Recent wars have brought a new technology to the fore: precision artillery fire offers an alternative to air support that has a shorter reach, with very considerable throw-weight and repeatable fire, plus 100% persistence and availability in any weather. GMLRS is a highly accurate GPS-guided rocket that can be fired by ground forces 35 miles away and arrive on target, in under a minute, under any conditions, with a 200 pound unitary warhead that will take out a fortified house. That’s very useful. When integrated into a battlefield surveillance/strike setup like Task Force ODIN, their effectiveness is kicked up several more notches.

In July 2010, Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control in Dallas, TX received a $469.9 million firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Full Rate Production Lot V procurement for 4,770 total unitary rocket pods (with 6 227mm rockets each), and 530 reduced range rocket pods (RRPR, used for training). Work will be performed in Dallas, TX (15%), and Camden, AR (85%), with an estimated completion date of June 30/13. One bid was solicited with one bid received by US AMCOM Contracting Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (W31P4Q-10-C-0270).

This Lot 5 buy covers hardware, support, spares, and “obsolescence support” for the USA, foreign partners, and Foreign Military Sales customers, as follows:

Rapid Fire: 2010-07-22 | IED Detection

• Diamond Anniversary: On the 60th anniversary of North Korea’s invasion of the South, the US and South Korea send North Korea a “gift” of tougher sanctions in response to March 26 sinking of ROKS Cheonan (PCC-772), a Pohang-class patrol combat corvette.

• T-Rays: Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing teraherz-based technology to detect IEDs and other explosives; DARPA is also harnessing terahertz frequencies to improve electronics.

• Too Pricey?: The IDF expresses concern about the costs of procuring the Iron Dome rocket/artillery defense system, which completed final testing this week.

• I-95 Gridlock: Virginia officials are asking the US federal government for $406 million to finance road construction to accommodate the 20,000 defense workers being relocated along the I-95 corridor as a result of BRAC implementation.

• ITAR, You TAR: US technology export restrictions under ITAR could cost the US its lead in UAV technology, warns Northrop Grumman CEO.

• Stanley in Arlington, VA secures 2 US Navy contracts totalling $11 milllion: one to provide software that will enable special op forces to send e-mails via radios and the other to provide engineering support to the Naval Sea Logistics Center in Mechanicsburg, PA.

Lessons from the Automotive Supply Chain: Surviving a Downturn

Guest Article by Vince Pavlak

There have been numerous comparisons between the automotive and aerospace industries, and an October 2009 article from Aviation Week even asked, “Could Wichita become the next Detroit?” Many aircraft suppliers are learning from the automotive industry and some have recruited executives from the sector. Given the recent turmoil and challenges faced by the cyclicality of the automotive industry and its participants, the actions taken may provide valuable insights for the aerospace industry, which has historically also endured its share of volatility.

During the past 18 months, the automotive industry experienced one of the worst periods in its history. All industry participants, from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers, to automotive dealers, were affected. Suppliers experienced significant volume declines, immense liquidity constraints and a severe tightening of the credit markets. Few companies were adequately prepared, and all were required to adapt quickly to the new economic conditions and take significant actions to remain viable. This time period can truly be characterized as a fight for survival in which there were many casualties.

While the extraordinary government aid at the OEM level clearly helped to stabilize the industry, we have found that supplier survival came down to the following key factors…

Seaport-e: FY 2010 Additions

Seaport-Enhanced (Seaport-e) is a $5.3 billion multiple-award umbrella contract that let the US Navy and Marine Corps use an integrated approach to contracting for support services. Most requests involve engineering, financial, and program management support. Receiving an award makes a firm eligible to big on jobs under a pre-set contract vehicle, and the SeaPort-e portal provides a standardized means of soliciting bids and awarding task orders.

In FY 2010, the US Navy awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity multiple-award contracts to 556 contractors. These contracts are in addition to the existing 1,675 contracts previously awarded under the SeaPort Enhanced (SeaPort-e) acquisition program…

Lockheed Receives $16.7M VL-ASROC Contract

VL-ASROC test

Lockheed Martin Corp. in Akron, OH received a $16.7 million undefinitized ceiling priced order under a previously awarded contract, to build various components for the MK54 vertical launched ASROC (anti-submarine rocket) missiles. Work will be performed in Akron, OH, and is expected to be complete by August 2012. This contract was not competitively awarded by the US Naval Inventory Control Point in Mechanicsburg, PA (N00104-07-G-0726, #0006). See also FBO solicitation.

The Mk-54 is the USA’s newest lightweight torpedo, replacing the older Mk-46. The RUM-139 VL-ASROC can be crudely described as a rocket attached to a break-away torpedo, which offers a number of advantages. One is an expanded firing range of up to 15 nautical miles or so. Another is the ability to load VL-ASROCs into Mk.41 vertical launch systems. A loaded cell can give even ships without deck-mounted torpedo tubes a snap-response capability against enemy submarines.

Rapid Fire: 2010-07-21

• A Farewell to Arms?: Deloitte’s mid-year review of the global aerospace and defense industry shows declining revenues and profits; however, the following defense areas are expected to generate future revenues: mission capability software integration, battle space simulation, directed energy, precision engagement, threat identification, and energy and infrastructure security.

• Greener Grass?: On a brighter note, the head of DoD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency expects US foreign arms sales to total $50 billion in FY 2011, up from $37.8 billion in FY 2010.

• A Dash of Realism: UK Defence Secretary Fox cautions industry to be more realistic about costs, timing, and performance estimates for weapons systems.

• Final Exam: Israel’s Defense Ministry plans to deploy the 1st batteries of the Iron Dome rocket/artillery defense system in November after the system passed its final tests this week.

• Full-scale development begins on a Eurofighter AESA radar. A factor in Tranche 3B discussions?

• European A400M gets a name… “Grizzly,” after a North American bear. Common suggestions had included the more European “Atlas,” not to mention slyer suggestions like “Airavata.”

• Hawker Beechcraft rolls out the first T-6C trainer for Morocco.

• First Australian F/A-18F TOFT simulator reaches Initial Training Capability.

• A team led by Kitware secures a $13.9 million DARPA contract under the PerSEAS program [PDF] to develop algorithms that can sort through wide area motion imagery to detect moving objects of interest to US troops.

Finding Fire: Canada Looks for Incoming Solutions

ARTHUR on Bv206:
Fading away?
(click to view larger)

Fire location radars are valuable in high-end wars against heavy artillery and rocket salvos, and in counter-insurgency conflicts where incoming mortars and simpler rockets are a frequent hazard. While artillery tracking systems have existed for decades, tracking very small, fast-moving projectiles is no easy task. False positives can be a problem during a high-end war in Germany’s Fulda Gap, but they become a bigger problem during counter-insurgency campaigns.

Canada has some radars of this type already, but their limitations were starting to chafe, and a new contract for counter-battery radars could be the result. A recent DSCA request adds impetus to that search – but will it come in time to make a difference?

• Conundrums & Contenders
  
• Contracts & Key Events
  

Rapid Fire 2010-07-20: Russian Spending

• The Russian Defense Ministry plans to spend 20 trillion rubles ($656 billion) on its 2011-2020 state arms procurement program, which includes purchases of 1,000 helicopters, 20 An-124 Ruslan transport planes, and 70 T-50/PAK-FA fighter jets.

• A report issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense estimates that China will have 2,000 short- and medium-range missiles, capable of destroying 90% of Taiwan’s infrastructure, pointed at the island by the end of 2010.

• US DoD’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awards 5-year TASER contracts worth up to $1 billion to 18 firms to provide engineering, prototype, integration/deployment, and sustainment support to the agency.

Rapid Fire 2010-07-19: EADS Eyes Emerging Markets

• Superconductor step forward: USA’s Brookhaven National Laboratory adds insights into the “pseudogap” phase.

• Quantum dots may lead to dark pulse lasers, with applications in atomic clocks and networking technologies.

• European governments look to defense cuts to balance budgets.

• EADS mulls expansion in India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, where defense spending is expected to grow at healthy rates.

• Israel is cutting its defense budget for first time in years.

• AVI BioPharma snags US Army contract worth up to $291 million to develop antidotes for biological threats, such as the Ebola and Marburg viruses.

• Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) demonstration satellites, built by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to track missiles as part of a BMD system, successfully tracked a Minuteman III ICBM.

Rapid Fire 2010-07-16: India’s Project 75I

• Work without Pay?: The US DoD is warning that it might run out of money to pay US troops if Congress fails to pass a $33 billion supplemental defense spending bill before its August recess.

• India’s “Project 75I” looks to add 6 submarines, reach out to the private sector, as its fleet ages and its “Project 75″ Scorpene submarines remain years behind.

• Bargain Basement Prices? A Citigroup analyst says that stock prices of major US defense firms, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Gumman, and Raytheon, are undervalued given the expected growth in the global defense market. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion; not everybody agrees.