The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) in Philadelphia, PA issues contracts for American field rations, knows as Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), and for Humanitarian Daily Rations used when providing aid in emergency situations abroad.
While there are reports that the French RCIR (Ration de Combat Individuelle Réchauffable) has superior trade value on the front lines, MREs are generally considered to be a significant improvement over earlier US rations. DID readers with a high fright threshold might wish to view a set of comparative photos of modern army rations from various militaries; even if you knew nothing about China, you could guess that their soldiers are draftees. Or, you can learn about the tactical uses of MREs as protection against anti-tank rockets. See below for field anecdotes and contracts from FY 2007 – Present.
A $450 million, 5-year contract announced by the Pentagon on August 31, 2006 was issued for activation in response to “natural disasters, humanitarian efforts, contingencies and other requirements (i.e. due to non-performance by an incumbent contractor or instances where there is an unanticipated lapse in service) at various locations (including remote locations) throughout the world.”
The winner was Contingency Response Services LLC – a partnership of DynCorp International; Parsons Global Services Inc in Pasadena, CA; and PWC Logistics in Safat, Kuwait. Since that date, they seem to be picking up contracts in the Philippines, as well as one in the USA. As it happens, US SOCOM’s low-profile activities in the Philippines include a lot of community support work as part of their mission. Read “Imperial Grunts” to understand how and why, or delve into the work of Kilcullen and some of the other self-titled “Jedi Knights” of US counterinsurgency theory [New Yorker article: “The Master Plan” | front lines thoughts | Grim’s “Disaggregation & the Gravity Well” | Kilcullen writes on Small Wars Journal blog].
Our readers aren’t the only ones with electricity bills to pay. Governments of all levels get them, including the military. In addition, the military’s purchasing power often makes it easier and cheaper for federal civilian government agencies to include themselves in these contracts than to negotiate and manage their own. Individual locations like the Fermi National Accelerator Lab can rack up truly impressive annual bills – and see these March 2006 New Jersey & Maryland contracts as another recent example.
Unless otherwise specified, all electricity contracts are firm-fixed-price and were issued by the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) at Fort Belvoir, VA. They include over $290 million worth of contracts:
EADS reports that the Spanish SENER company, acting as the prime contractor for Spain’s Taurus program, has contracted for 43 operational Taurus KEPD 350 medium-range precision attack cruise missiles, plus mission planning and support for weapons integration with Spain’s EA-18A
Hornets and Eurofighter aircraft. The contract award was based on the decision taken by the Spanish Council of Ministers in June 2005.
Costs for this finalized deal were not mentioned – but DID can provide some guidance in this area, as well as insights into the Taurus missiles themselves, their key competitors on the international market, and the new export opportunities this contract may create for EADS/LFK.
The European defense integration front has been a blizzard of activity lately. Contributions include a European Parliament report, another from the well-regarded Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), comments from NATO’s supreme commander that could see the alliance’s immediate concerns extend to Russian pipelines and the Gulf of Guinea, and a report from senior NATO generals regarding Europe’s defense future and spending needs.
