Advertisement

YRH-70 test, 2005
(click to view full)

The ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) is a program by the United States Army to replace around 375 Bell Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters. The Army’s initial replacement, the $14.6 billion RAH-66 Comanche program, was canceled in 2004. Instead, the Army would buy a larger number of less expensive platforms, with reduced capabilities.

Bell Helicopter Textron initially won the ARH competition, beating an MD Helicopter/Boeing consortium. As DID has noted re: a similar $500-600 million competition in India, Bell’s ARH-70 is a militarized version of its highly successful 407 single-engine commercial helicopter.

This will serve as DID’s FOCUS Article for the ARH program, providing updated background, details, and contract award information. Bell Helicopter continued to work on the ARH-70 at its own expense, but rising program costs led to a program review – and the ARH-70 Arapaho did not survive. The Army says that it still needs the capability. The question is where it might acquire it, and when – but a “sources sought” RFI has now been issued to industry…

• The ARH Program: What Happened? [updated]
• The ARH Program: Contracts & Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Weary Warriors – The Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Fleet
• Appendix B: Initial Winner – Bell’s ARH-70
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
(click to expand)

As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising faster than the US military can add it. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address that need, and close the gap.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record – and TSAT is certainly significant. The final price tag on the entire program has been quoted at anywhere from $14-25 billion through 2016, including the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. Lockheed Martin and Boeing have each won over $600 million in risk reduction contracts for the TSAT SS satellite system, and their respective bids are in. Both teams continue to await a decision, which was supposed to have been made in late 2007. TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract is already underway.

The TSAT constellation’s central role in next-generation US military infrastructure makes it worthy of in-depth treatment – but its survival is not assured. Outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end, just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium project. This FOCUS article examines that possibility, even as it offers an overview of the US military’s vision for its communications infrastructure, how TSAT fits, the program’s challenges, and complete coverage of contracts and significant events. New additions are highlighted in green for your convenience.

The latest item is yet another significant delay in the TSAT-SS contract, which was supposed to be awarded in 2007. That contract has now moved to FY 2010 – if it ever happens at all…

• Key Background – Why TSAT Is Thought to be Necessary (i.e. continue reading…)
• Key Background – The Big Picture: TSAT and the Transformational Communications Architecture
• Briefing – What Is TSAT?
• Briefing – TMOS: TSAT’s Ground Component
• Briefing – The AEHF Alternative, and Lessons Learned for TSAT
• Analysis – TSAT Program: Issues & Decisions
• Analysis – TSAT’s Competitors – and Its Fate
• News – TSAT: Timeline and Ongoing Developments [updated]
• Appendix A – Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

Advertisement

A team led by ITT Corporation recently announced a 5-7 year contract to perform telemetry, tracking and command services for near-Earth missions under NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Space Communications Network Services (SCNS) contract. The contract has a base period of performance of 5 years and 3 months, with 2 one-year option periods, and a maximum potential value of $1.26 billion if all options are exercised.

(click to view full)

The USA’s Contract Field Teams (CFT) Program quickly deploys skilled technicians on site to accomplishes depot and organizational level inspection, maintenance, modification and repair at operational Government locations worldwide. The program works with each of the USAF’s Air Logistics Centers (ALCs), plus USAF Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Air Force Reserves (AFRES) and the US Air National Guard (ANG). CFT contracts can also be used to support the needs of the US Army, Navy, Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other American Federal Agencies. The program started in 1951, and the last contract was issued in 1997, expiring in 2008. Hence the new award.

The US Army makes extensive use of this contract vehicle for Army Aviation Support, and the US Navy operates an aviation fleet that is larger than most national air forces. since the roster of firms involved in these activities is very similar no matter which service is making the request, piggybacking on a fully fleshed out contract and using similar terms and conditions makes a lot of sense. FAA support, meanwhile, involves the repair of navigation equipment, electronics, and other components of civil aviation infrastructure.

Like most multiple-award contracts, the “winners” are really just given an opportunity to compete for relevant task orders. When a specific need arises, the umbrella contract’s extensive terms and conditions are already set, and bids can be offered and evaluated very quickly. That arrangement saves time and money for the military, the firms involved, and ultimately for American taxpayers. At this time $280,000 has been committed, and the contracts will be managed by the 327 ASW/FT at Tinker AFB in Midwest City, OK.

Winners under the new CFT program, with DefenseLINK announcement errors corrected, include:

Continue Reading… »

(click to view larger)

As of July 2007, Raytheon Technical Services held the US Army contract for live training support, Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) carries the contract for virtual training (simulators), and General Dynamics the one for constructive training (computer models & game-like simulations). More than 3,400 contractors served more than 150 manned sites and 458 unmanned sites with training devices world-wide.

The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI) office has been working for the last couple of years on a new approach that does away with the 3 domains, in order to put the full focus on delivering whatever training support is needed and appropriate, in whatever manner works best. The Warfighter Field Operations Customer Support (Warfighter FOCUS) contract would consolidate operations, maintenance, systems integration and engineering support services for the Army’s live, virtual and constructive training systems into a single 10-year, $11-12 billion package once existing contracts expire on Oct 31/07.

On one side was the Warrior Training Alliance (WTA), led by prime contractor Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC and Computer Sciences Corporation. One the other side was the Warfighter FOCUS Alliance (WFA), led by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Saab. Each team had a roster that included other major and minor players, and DID details both teams below. The winner was the Raytheon-led WTA, and integration is now proceeding…

Continue Reading… »

AEDC at work: X-29
(click to view full)

The Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), named for U.S. Air Force pioneer Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, bills itself as “The World’s Premier Flight Simulation Test Facility.” Nearly half of the AEDC’s 58 test facilities are unique in the U.S., and 14 are unique in the world.

These specialized test facilities have played a crucial role in the development and sustainment of virtually every high performance aircraft, air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon, missile, and space system in use by all four of the U.S. military services today. The Center has also been involved in the development of every NASA manned space system, many satellites, and numerous commercial aircraft and spacecraft systems.

In 2003, the Air Force consolidated the test operations contract and the base services contract into a single contract for operations, maintenance, information management, and base support…

Continue Reading… »

HMMWV, IEDed
(click to view full)

Paradigm Technologies, Inc. (Paradigm) recently recveived a $15.7 million Task Order to provide Business and Financial Management Support Services to the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle Joint Program Office in Quantico, Virginia. The Task Order, awarded through the Naval Sea Systems Command’s SeaPort-e, includes a base year and 4 one-year options.

The MRAP Vehicle Program fits with a strong international trend, and seeks to replace vulnerable, flat-bottomed Hummers with vehicles designed from the ground up to resist land mine blasts. It is a Joint, Acquisition Category (ACAT) 1D program that is currently the number 1 Department of Defense priority program, with a DX priority rating for materials that is usually reserved for items like nuclear submarines. The program is currently in the procurement phase, and is valued at about $25 billion over Fiscal Years 2007 – 2009. The Joint Program Office (JPO) is led by Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia.

Under this contract (N00178-05-D-4486-EH02), Paradigm is teamed with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) to provide comprehensive Business and Financial Management support to the MRAP JPO, in order to support the successful execution of the MRAP Vehicle program. This kind of support usually comes from professionals with domain experience – in this case, business and financial management support personnel with extensive ACAT 1 program experience. For further background context, see also the recent US GAO report covering the Pentagon’s use of contractors for acquisition assistance, and likely trends in this area.

FORTUNE Magazine has released its annual list of America’s Most Admired Companies, and a number of defense-related firms find themselves noted in the data. To quote FORTUNE re: their methodology:

“The Most Admired list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations. Our survey partners at Hay Group started with the FORTUNE 1,000 – the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue – and the top foreign ones operating in the U.S. Hay sorted them by industry and selected the ten largest in each. To create the 63 industry lists, Hay asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate companies in their own industry on eight criteria, from investment value to social responsibility. Only the best are listed as most admired: A company’s score must rank in the top half of its industry survey. Ranks for the rest of the contenders are available online only.”

The criteria evidently managed to completely exclude key global defense & aerospace players with notable US businesses/revenues, including BAE Systems and EADS (which includes Airbus & Eurocopter). This is a major pair of omissions, to say the least. Methodology flaws aside, firms that made the cut in their sectors and do a lot of work in our industry – or were on the receiving end of cutting ratings – included:

Continue Reading… »

I protest, you protest, we all protest ITES. So it seemed after the US Army chose 11 of the 17 bidders as winners, eligible to compete for $20 billion worth of defense-related IT contracts under the ITES-2 umbrella vehicle. Northrop Grumman is probably glad that it protested – not only did it win re-admittance to the winners circle (along with all other eliminated firms), but it just landed a key battlefield logistics contract that could be worth up to $600 million.

Under the Global Combat Support System-Army (Field/Tactical) program (GCSS-Army) contract, Northrop Grumman’s Mission System sector will lead a team (NGC MS, IBM Global Services, Computer Sciences Corporation, Joint Logistics Managers, Inc., and SAP America) to implement an enterprise system capable of providing the current status of all Army equipment and assets so that soldiers can best anticipate, allocate and manage the flow of available resources. CGSS-Army will be a global system that supports Army, National Guard, and Army Reserve forces, re-engineering the current STAMIS system. As a key element of the Army’s larger vision for the integration of its major logistics systems and processes, GCSS-Army will also be important in the management of logistical assets of future programs. If it was up and running now, for instance, it would be used to track MRAP-related logistics.

NGC received initial funding of $10 million on this cost plus fixed fee task order, which is valued at up to $600 million over 7 years. NGC release.

It is said that amateurs study tactics, while professionals study logistics. Analysts study procurement, because this is where the decisions are taken that affect both the range of thinkable tactics, and the logistics infrastructure that underpins them. Hence the importance of programs like the USA’s newly-launched Defense Transportation Coordination Initiative (DTCI).

At present, the US Department of Defense’s shippers in the continental US (CONUS) are handled by individual depots, bases, and other locations. Each location independently selects the transportation modes, level of service, and transportation providers they need, and so multiple information systems are employed to execute and manage shipment activity. There is no centralized planning, coordination, or control. The system works, because each shipment is managed. Is it as efficient as it could be? No.

Hence DTCI, which is focused on increasing operational effectiveness, while simultaneously obtaining efficiencies by reducing cycle times, and using best practices such as increased consolidations / load optimization and modal conversions. The premise is for DoD to competitively award a long-term contract with a world-class transportation coordinator/coordinator(s) that will help it achieve these goals, leveraging current commercial capabilities and proven practices save up to 20% as it manages, consolidates, and optimizes freight movements. In the business world, this growing trend is called 3rd Party Logistics (3PL).

The DTCI contract has a multiple phased implementation approach – which DID describes below in our Spotlight article, along with the program’s history & issues faced, the recent announcement of a winning team, the known competitors, and a collection of useful reference resources…

Continue Reading… »