CPK on excavator

American Defense Systems Inc. (ADSI) in Hicksville, NY received a $9.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering quantity of 25 Add on Armor (AoA) Crew Protection Kits (CPKs), associated manuals and spares parts kits, for installation on Terex Corp.’s MAC-50 cranes. ADSI will perform the work at its Hicksville, NY, headquarters and expects to complete it by May 2012. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is a sole source award to ADSI because it is the only manufacturer of the AoA CPKs. The Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA manages the contract (M67854-09-D-5038).

The 50-ton all-terrain MAC-50 cranes will be fitted with ADSI CPKs on both the large driver cab and on the smaller side cab for the crane operator. Approximately $2.5 million of the award will fund field service representatives over the term of the contract. CPKs feature windows of fully transparent armor, opaque armor siding, a combat lock, tool-less emergency egress windows, fortified door hinges and an integrated crew system. The CPKs are modular and can be applied to the vehicle either during its assembly, or as a retrofit in theater. ADSI employs field service representatives that are on the ground in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait to train soldiers on the proper installation techniques and offer on-going expertise and assistance.

This U.S. Marines Corps contract builds upon several recent U.S. military-related awards and orders received by ADSI over the last 6 months, which combined are valued at more than $54 million. This includes an order representing approximately one-third of a $10 million revenue expectation from JCB Construction Equipment for CPKs through 2010. See also ADSI news release.

CV-22 SEAL extraction
(click to view full)

Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office in Amarillo, TX received a $7.3 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for one-time engineering services to retrofit 7 CV-22 aircraft per single configuration retrofit ECP V-22-0802. The order will bring the 7 aircraft to a Block B/10 configuration. The firm will also provide the associated retrofit kits for 3 CV-22 aircraft.

The CV-22 is the Air Force Special Operations version of the V-22 Osprey aircraft. The CV-22 fills a long-standing Air Force requirement to conduct long-range insertion and extraction missions. The CV-22 has twice the altitude and speed of current helicopters used in special operations. The Osprey can fly at 316 miles per hour in airplane mode and 115 miles per hour in helicopter mode. The aircraft’s ceiling is 26,000 feet.

Bell-Boeing plans to perform the work in Ridley Park, PA (60%), and Fort Worth, TX (40%) and expects to complete the work in November 2012. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-07-G-0008).

PAC-3 test launch
(click to view full)

Raytheon Co. in Andover, MA received an $8.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for 3 Patriot missile depot test equipment upgrades, and new depot test equipment, including installation and training. Raytheon is performing the work at the following MA facilities: Andover (50%), Tewksbury (20%), Sudbury (20%), and Burlington (10%), with an estimated completion date of June 08/15. Only one bid was solicited and received by U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W31P4Q-09-C-0321).

Patriot, the foundation of the U.S. ArmyÕs integrated air and missile defense architecture, is a medium-range all-weather system fielded to defeat flying threats or even ballistic missiles.

LVSR comes ashore
(click to view full)

Trucks are the unglamorous but very necessary backbone of any mobile military force. The US Marines certainly fit the description of a mobile force, and Oshkosh Defense supplies their MTVR medium trucks.

In 2006, the Marines took the next step, and chose a winner to replace a worn-down Oshkosh LVS heavy truck fleet that has served since 1985. Like their predecessors, these new “Logistic Vehicle System Replacement” (LVSR) heavy trucks will usually find themselves transporting heavy equipment, and basic supplies such as ammunition, fuel, and water.

That winner was also an Oshkosh design, which shares MTVR features like the TAK-4® independent suspension system for better off-road performance, leverages advances in automated vehicle diagnostic systems, includes factory-installed armor, and sports a special 600 hp CAT C15 engine. The new 10×10 all wheel drive LVSR trucks have a a 22.5 ton on-road payload and a 13.5 ton off-road payload, with a maximum recommended vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 98,000 pounds/ 44,452 kg. The LVSR can ford 5 feet/ 152.4 cm of water, travel at up to 65 mph/ 105 kph, and has an on-road cruising range of 300 miles/ 483 km. The vehicle will also load and unload flat racks from towed trailers, each of which adds 33,000 pounds/ 14969 kg of payload. All adapters and lift hardware are carried on the vehicle.

The latest contract is an order for special trailers, submitted as a spinoff from an Army order…

Continue Reading… »

USMC M1A1 settles a
firefight in Fallujah
(click to view full)

The RESET process takes used vehicles apart, inspects the parts, then replaces any defective parts and refurbishes the equipment to like-new condition. Sometimes upgrades are also performed. RESET and related processes like remanufacture/upgrades are being performed on M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley IFV/CFVs, HMMWV jeeps, and even helicopters. It usually takes place when the vehicles return from the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, where sand damage and increased wear have taken their toll.

In truth, many of these vehicles were produced in the 1980s, and are reaching an age where “deep maintenance” is a wise and necessary measure. A July 2006 Washington Times article noted the effect age and wear have had on the USA’s vehicle fleet, and DID has also covered this subject under the wider rubric of the Army’s maintenance overhang. DID believes these efforts are sufficiently important that the consolidated visibility of a FOCUS Article is in order.

Note that this is not a complete list of RESET contracts; DID will seek to backfill its roster as opportunities arise, and newly-added materials will be presented in green as a reader convenience. Recent additions include an award for USMC helicopter resets, and a $600 million contract for Bradley vehicles…

• RESET Programs and Procedures
• RESET Contracts, Delivery Orders & Developments, FY 2006-Present [updated]
• Vehicle Fleets and Maintenance Overhangs
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

“Aroint thee!”
(click to view full)

Built since the 1920s, the reliable, powerful, air-cooled .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning Machine Gun (aka. “Ma Deuce”) is still one of the world’s most effective heavy machine guns. It can be carried by a team of soldiers, or mounted on vehicles and aircraft. Despite its age, its combination of reliability, durability, and kick-butt firepower has made it one of the most requested weapons in the Iraqi theater of war, and it remains popular around the world. Modern alternatives like FN’s M3M/GAU-21 have been introduced, and the XM307/312 remains a future possibility, but the M2 remains, as one of our correspondents put it, “the mounted lance of the US cavalry.” The USA has even had to ramp up .50 cal ammunition production, in order to keep up.

This article covers the venerable, and valuable, M2 machine gun, and associated contracts. The US government is still buying more, and has just issued a multi-year contract…

• Ma Deuce: the M2 Heavy Machine Gun
• Contracts
  
  Continue Reading… »

IAI Heron
(click to view full)

In April 2005, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems won an contract to supply medium endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Turkish military. Turkey’s local industry would provide sub-systems and services amounting to 30% of the contract.

The contract’s terms have been the subject of shifting reports, and the type of UAV was not specified in the official releases. Over time, however, clarity has emerged on several fronts. One front is the UAV type: the same Heron UAVs that serve with Israel, India, Canada, and other customers.

The project’s issues appeared to be settled, with recent deliveries of Heron UAVs to Batman air base. Follow-on reports indicate that these issues are a long way from settled, however, and a recent Turkish newspaper article discusses the exact problems and current situation in much greater depth…

• Contract Arrangements and Participants
• The UAVs [updated]
• Updates [updated]
• Additional Readings and Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), in San Diego, CA won a $16.9 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing arrangement to provide engineering, security engineering and technical support services for Navy cryptographic systems and solutions, and key management architectures and information systems. This 5-year contract includes 4 nine-month award terms which, if earned, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $28 million.

BAH will perform the work at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) facilities (85%) and at the BAH facility in San Diego (15%) and expects to complete the work in May 2014. This contract was competitively procured via FedBizOpps.gov (solicitation number N66001-08-R-0105) and posted to the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central web site, with 3 offers received by SSC Pacific (N66001-09-D-0061).

THAAD on HEMTT
(click to view full)

With its bridge buy of FMTV medium trucks in place and the re-compete proceeding, and initial awards for the potential JLTV Hummer replacement designs underway, the next order of business on the US Army’s agenda was a new Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles multi-year contract: FHTV-III.

Oshkosh has provided the core of this capability for over 20 yeas now. Its Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and their 13-ton payloads are the mainstay of the FHTV fleet, serving in variants that include M977/985 Cargo, M978 Fueler, M982/983 Tractors, and M984 Wrecker; they also serve as heavy transporters for Patriot and THAAD air defense systems. M1074/75 Palletized Load Systems (PLS) and PLS trailers (PLST) are best known for their automated container/pallet loading arms, and for their Universal Power Interface Kit (UPIK) that can add modules for firefighting, construction, cranes, et. al. The M1000/1070 Heavy Equipment Transporters (HET) are flatbeds that can transport a 70-ton Abrams tank – or anything less – in order to save wear and tear on expensive armored vehicles and on the roads. A specialized FHTV truck called the M1977 CBT can even lay bridges.

Now the multi-billion dollar FHTV-III contract has been awarded – not as a re-compete like FMTV, but as a single solicitation. The new LTAS armoring kits are also attracting contracts. The latest awards include an orer for another 130 trucks…

• FHTV: Upgrades, LTAS, and RECAP
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

RG-33 variant
(click to view full)

BAE Systems Land & Armaments, Ground Systems Division, in York, PA received a $14.3 million order for field service representatives and instructors to support Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Iraq. BAE Systems expects to complete the work by December 2009. This order is a firm-fixed-priced modification of a previously awarded delivery order #0004 (89 RG-33 SOCOM) under a contract managed by the Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, VA (M67854-07-D-5025).

MRAP vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks and ambushes. According to Wikipedia, IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq. There is no common MRAP vehicle design; there are several vendors, including BAE Systems, each with a competing design. For more information, see DID’s feature on BAE Systems’ family of MRAP offerings, order record, and associated contracts.