In December 2005, AdAge reported that the U.S. Army had awarded the US government’s largest single ad account to Interpublic Group of Cos. (IPG) McCann Erickson in New York, NY, following a series of on-again, off again account reviews. IPG has held on to the account ever since, but inside accounts say that the relationship hasn’t been great.
Now, the President of an IPG ad agency has publicly called the Army and the people in it “…a prejudiced, misogynistic, self-destructive organization of deeply flawed, violent men and women of low average esteem, suicidal tendencies and intelligence”.
In 2005, the Canadian Department of National Defence awarded a 22-year, $1.77-billion (USD $1.5 billion) contract to an “Allied Wings” team lead by Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd. of Kelowna, British Columbia, who beat out a competing group led by Bombardier’s military training division in Mirabel, Quebec. The long-term contract will provide primary flight training training and support services to the Canadian Forces and international allies. These services will be provided out of the “Canada Wings Aviation Training Centre” in the Southport Aerospace Centre near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
This is not the first time the Canadian government has chosen a public/private approach to aviation training. Bombardier was already managing the Contracted Flying Training and Support (CFTS) program, and the public-private NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program has been running since 1997. In some ways, however, the new “Allied Wings” contract was a logical next step aimed at solidifying Canada’s traditional advantages, as Canada attempts to make itself an international center of excellence for foreign military aviator training:
NATO Flying Training in Canada
Primary Training: Competition for CFTS [updated]
The Big Picture: International Flight Training in Canada [updated]
Leonie Industries, LLC in Pacific Palisades, CA received a $10.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for media and marketing support services throughout Afghanistan. Work on this 6-month contract will be performed in Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of July 5/11. One bid was solicited with one bid received by the U.S. Army’s Rock Island Contracting Center in Rock Island, IL (W52P1J-09-D-0053).
Campbell Ewald Co. won an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for advertising and marketing services for the Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, TN. This contract is worth $146.2 million over the base year, and 4 one-year options could bring its total value to $806.5 million.
Most of this work will be performed at Campbell Ewald’s Warren, MI, facility and the base year ends in May 2010. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with 4 offers received by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk’s Contracting Department in Philadelphia, PA (N00189-09-D-Z040).
Campbell Ewald has been working with the Navy on recruiting-related contracts since 2000. In 2005, following a major account review, they scored a major $400+ million win. The firm is responsible for Navy campaigns like “Accelerate Your Life” and NavyforMoms.com, and has expanded the Navy’s reach into social networking communities. That Navy-related work has won over 80 industry awards since 2000. See also Campell Ewald’s release, which includes sample marketing segments.
Recent requests for over $10 billion in military equipment are beginning to thrust Iraq into the industry spotlight for reasons having to do with its government’s own priorities, and not simply as a stage for other nations’ military efforts. Even so, many of the country’s procurement efforts are still managed by outsiders with Iraqi participation, once Iraqis make their equipment decisions. It’s al part of diligent efforts to grow a cadre of new Iraqi Ministry of Defence officials, with the experience and training needed to run an accountable organization within a democratic state. The British Ministry of Defence offers a snapshot of efforts underway, and the challenges involved. Some excerpts:
On July 25/07, new UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the UK MoD Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) will be shut down. The agency was set up in 1966, when the UK arms industry was largely state-owned and concerned with selling off surplus equipment. Neither of these premises remain true, but as all government agencies tend to do, it has shifted its mission to fulfill other needs within its client base. According to The Guardian, DESO lobbies within Whitehall for export licences, and spends £15 million per year to help British firms sell equipment abroad. British firms pay below-market fees in return for these services. Industrial promotion activities will be shifted into the Department of Trade & Industry (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), with the implementation plan scheduled for finalization by the end of 2007.
Left-wing organizations like Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) have lobbied for DESO’s demise since 1974. In the end, however, DESO appears to have been done in by opposition from Treasury officials on corporate subsidy grounds. Political observers will recall that Treasury has been Mr. Brown’s cabinet department for many years under former Prime Minister Tony Blair. DESO has also been caught up in the scandal over the GBP 43 billion Saudi Al-Yamamah framework, which is connected to Saudi buys of Tornado aircraft and maintenance services and its still-pending purchase of the BAE/EADS Eurofighter.
The UK defence industry, whose exports sit at GBP 5-6 billion per year, is deeply unhappy with the announcement, whose content and timing reportedly surprised them. DESO’s has now been dissolved, and its successor has begun operations, despite BAE Systems CEO Mike Turner’s letter that said:
Yesterday, Defense Industry Daily started offering subscriptions to readers wishing to gain access to the site’s more in-depth analyses. This Defense Industry Insider package includes access to all of DID’s content, as well as upcoming applications such as in-depth search functions and other industry-focused enhancements. DID’s Defense Industry Insider subscribers gain immediate access to additional chronologies, pictures, and more complete analyses for key weapons programs and trends: reference materials available nowhere else.
General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. in Groton, CT received a $46.7 million firm-fixed-price delivery order under previously awarded multiple award indefinite delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (N00024-04-D-4408) for the FY 2007 docking and selected restricted availability of the Improved Los Angeles Class attack submarine USS Alexandria (SSN 757). Electric Boat will perform advance planning, design documentation, engineering, procurement, ship-checks, fabrication and preliminary shipyard work and/or any other work necessary to prepare for and accomplish the necessary alterations and repairs, maintenance, testing and routine work. Work will be performed in Groton, CT and is expected to be complete by September 2007. Contract funds in the amount of $30.9 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC is the contracting activity.
The 7,100 ton Alexandria will soon be familiar to the public, thanks to a cameo role in the film “Stargate: Continuum,” as the submarine surfaces through ice in the Beaufort Sea near the North Pole. Barry L. Campbell, the head of operations at the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory in San Diego, originally presented the idea to Executive Producer N. John Smith at a Stargate convention in Vancouver, Canada. He ended up with a speaking part in the film, an interesting task for the crew to execute during ICEX-07, and great publicity for the service on a show with a reputation for military respect and verisimilitude.
This one has been making the email rounds lately, and we thought our readers would enjoy it. Sukhoi refers to this plane as the “The SU-35 Single-Seat Multi-Role Super-Maneuverable Fighter“; it’s a major upgrade to the SU-27 Flanker that includes new radar and avionics, thrust-vectoring engines, et. al. Production has been very limited, owing to the near-halt in Russia’s major aircraft programs due to limited funds. Nevertheless, exports remain a possibility and there have been rumors that Russia is looking at a renewal of its air force beginning around 2010. There has been some doubt concerning the aircraft’s exact configuration, but the MAKS 2007 air show appears to offer a settled design – see DID’s Sidebar “Which SU-35?” for more.
The video takes you through the SU-35’s key upgrades over the earlier SU-27 and its weapon fits, then includes a number of “mission scenes” which are laughably unrealistic but still somewhat illustrative of the SU-35’s equipment and uses. The labels are all in Russian, but aviation buffs will be able to recognize most of the items in it from context and background knowledge. Hokey, yes, but lots of fun.
