Facchina Construction Co., Inc. in La Plata, MD received a $27 million firm-fixed-price contract for construction of aircraft taxiways and parking aprons for the Green Side and White Side Aircraft Complex at the Marine Corps Air Facility in Quantico, Va. The work consisting of, but is not limited to, construction of concrete aircraft taxiways and parking aprons, bonded refueling truck parking area, demolition of existing airfield pavement, taxiway lighting and incidental work.
Work will be performed in Marine Corps Air Facility, Quantico, VA and is expected to be complete by August 2009. This contract was competed utilizing full and open competition via the Naval Facilities Engineering Command E-Solicitation website, with 1 offer received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Washington, DC (N40080-08-C-0002).
As mechanical things get more complex, the difficulty of testing them increases. Think about the testing set-ups you see in today’s auto shops, for instance, vs. the equipment you would have seen 40 years ago. The same dynamic is at work with respect to the devices found in military vehicles and aircraft – and even the weapons they carry.
DME Corp. in Orlando, FL won a $31.9 million for delivery order #0005 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-05-D-3011) for VIPER/T Third Echelon Test Set (TETS) and related equipment. TETS is a weapon system field portable, automated, diagnostic fault isolation mechanism. It is currently used to test components of weapons systems (e.g. Avenger air defense system, TOW 2 Missile, LAV-25 vehicle, LAV-AD vehicle), radar systems (TPS-59, TPS-63, TPQ-46A), and communications gear (TRC-170, Unit Level Circuit Switch). It is also being used to test items from the Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) and will be used to test components of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV, formerly AAAV).
TETS has 3 variants; Radio Frequency (RF), Electro-Optical (EO), and RF/EO. This order covers 32 EO variants, 6 RF/EO variants, 38 Stand Alone Instrument Fixtures, and 38 Calibration Interface Devices. Work will be performed in Orlando, FL, Santa Barbara, CA, and Austin, TX, and is expected to be complete in September 2009. This contract was competitively awarded through full and open competition, with 2 offers received by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA.
The Upgraded M36E3 Thermal Sight System is designed to improve the USMC’s AAV7 “Amtracs” amphibious vehicles; as Military Aerospace & Electronics notes, the Amtracs don’t have thermal sights. Instead, the current system employs image intensifier (aka. “starlight scope”) technology that amplifies existing light and has a range of less than 1 km (0.6 miles). Nor do current sights provide the ability to see through smoke, fog, sand or other obscurants to visible light.
The work-in-progress Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle will include far superior optics, but the Marines can’t wait that long. With Amtracs being pressed into service as armored personnel carriers far inland in theaters like Iraq, that’s a serious handicap. The replacement AAV7A1 day/night sight must provide daylight as well as nighttime sighting ability to detect targets to 4.7 km/ 3 miles, recognize targets to 2.5 km/ 1.5 miles, and identify targets at 700 m. See full solicitation specifications [HTML | MS Word].
It would appear that procurement in earnest is now underway…
Small business qualifier Singh Group, Inc., DBA(Doing Business As) Baja Pacific in Oceanside, CA won a not to exceed $28.3 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity service contract for tree trimming and removal services at the San Diego Metropolitan Areas and Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton. Guess you can’t just let them grow into the power lines…
Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (60%) and Oceanside, CA (40%), and is expected to be complete in July 2008. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured among the 6 certified 8(a) firms provided by the Small Business Administration San Diego District Office under the North American Industry Classification System, 561730-Landscaping, with 3 proposals received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest in San Diego, CA (N62473-07-D-5005).
The estimated $8.4 billion MRAP program for 7,774 mine-resistant vehicles has seen almost 63% of its orders issued, with new orders emerging as vehicles complete testing and production capacity opens up. Force Protection of Ladson, SC was a recent beneficiary of an “additional production” order, and they currently lead the MRAP competition with 36.5% of vehicles ordered. Beyond MRAP, however, the US Army may be looking for another 17,000 vehicles – and whatever replaces the 1980s-era flat-bottomed Hummers will also need an acceptable level of mine protection.
On July 12/07, the firm announced that it had purchased a new 430,000 square foot facility in Roxboro, Person County, NC, ownership effective immediately. The Roxboro facility will produce Cougar vehicles for the USA’s MRAP competition under the Force Dynamics partnership with General Dynamics.
It is also slated to produce the Cheetah, a smaller mine-resistant vehicle whose listed 14,000 pound curb weight is less than half of the MRAP CAT I Cougar 4×4’s 31,000 pounds…
Purchases are taking place under both annual budgets and supplemental wartime funding. Now the number of aircraft involved in the December 2006 supplemental funds purchase has grown to 5, as part of the fallout from program restructuring…
Saab Bofors Dynamics AB in Karlskoga, Sweden received a $7.1 million firm fixed priced requirements contract for the production, testing, and delivery of M136 (AT4) portable anti-armor rockets, which weigh 15 pounds each (see also Army inspection guide | effectiveness guidelines). The base year orders a maximum quantity of 3,500 production units, and associated technical data. This contract includes options, however, which would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $40.3 million if exercised.
Work will be performed in Karlskoga, Sweden, and is expected to be complete by May 2008. This contract was a sole source procurement by the Marine Corps Systems Command, Program Manager for Ammunition, Quantico, VA (M67854-07-D-1005). Now, aren’t we glad we decided not to complicate the relationship by selling to Venezuela on the side?
Spacesaver Storage Systems, Inc. in Fort Atkinson, WI received an estimated maximum value $129.4 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for weapons cabinets and associated accessories. This contract contains options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of the contract to $244.3 million. Work will be performed in Fort Atkinson, WI and is expected to be complete by April 2012.
This contract was competitively procured via GSA’s E-Buy website, with 1 offer received by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA (M67854-07-D-1092). Note that “Fort Atkinson” is a city, not a military post. Spacesavers also won a much smaller $5.1 million contract in October 2005 for Universal Weapons Racks, used in armories throughout the Marine Corps to store and transport a variety of Marine Corps infantry weapons and associated equipment.
Allied Container Systems, Inc. in Pleasant Hill, CA won a ceiling price $461.6 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to produce, test, install and deliver the Combined Arms Military Operations in Urban Terrain (CAMOUT) training system at the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, CA. Allied will perform a mix of design, fabrication, installation, integration, verification and fielding of the CAMOUT.
Work will be performed in Twentynine Palms, CA (60%) and Pleasant Hill, CA (40%), and is expected to be complete April 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $19.1 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through full and open competition, with 5 offers received by the Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, VA (M67854-07-D-8000).
General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems in Saint Petersburg, FL was recently awarded $8.2 million for delivery order 0001 under a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (M67854-05-D-6014) to prepare low rate initial production (LRIP) and full rate production for the Expeditionary Fire Support System/ Internally Transportable Vehicle. The ITV is designed to fit the V-22 Osprey‘s limited internal dimensions; it has come in for some criticism for its cost and capabilities.
Work will be performed in St. Petersburg, FL (75%); Ocala, FL (10%); and Robbins, NC (15%), and is expected to be complete by May 2007. This contract was competitively procured with 3 proposals solicited and 3 offers received by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA.
