ATK business Alliant Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co. LLC in Independence, MO recently received a pair of firm-fixed-price contracts under DAAA09-99-D-0016 for small arms ammunition from the US government. The Alliant Lake location dates back to World War 2, and had become the USA’s only facility turning out military-grade small arms ammunition. The plant is currently undergoing extensive modernization efforts, while the adoption of General Dynamics as a secondary supplier has helped to ease the USA’s supply crunch for small arms ammunition.
The 3 contracts include a pair on Feb 29/08, and another on March 3/08. The first 2 lay out $21 million for 47,855,400 small caliber (5.56mm – 12.7mm/ .50 cal) rounds, and $13.5 million for 27,779,760 rounds. The 3rd lays out $67.7 million for 304,995,920 rounds. Work on these contracts is expected to be complete by Sept 30/09; in all cases, there was 1 bid solicited on Jan 2/08, and 1 bid was received by The U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, IL.
Spain’s armed forces have recently placed a wide range of orders for vehicles, radios, ammunition, and other supplies and services, which are worth about EUR 250 million (currently $363 million) taken together.
In September 2005, “South Africa’s Denel Forced Into Strategic Shift” examined the changed business landscape for the firm, which was suffering from the collapse of its domestic arms market as a source of guaranteed funding, and a flood of red ink on its balance sheet. The turnabout has been slow, but the firm’s leadership has made it clear that global alliances and sub-contractor status, with a prime role in its domestic market, is the way forward for them.
One of the product groups Denel has always been known for is its artillery systems, which may be the best in the world. Their accurate G6 155mm howitzers continue to outrange all competitors, and the base-bleed ammunition technology they pioneered has become a widespread option for countries looking to extend the range of their existing artillery systems. Industrial partnerships with Rheinmetall and Diehl BGT Defence of Germany have led to orders to supply Germany’s 155mm howitzer and 120mm mortar ammunition, and partnerships have also been explored with General Dynamics in the USA.
Despite their difficulties winning international sales with a superior product, Denel isn’t quite ready to give up its artillery system crown jewels just yet. On the ammunition front, however, business partner Rheinmetall’s move to combine the 2 firms’ customer coverage and technologies has met with a warmer reception.
The U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, IL recently issued a delivery order for the full amount of a $52.2 million firm-fixed-price contract with ATK’s Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co., LLC in Independence, MO. Work will be performed in Independence, MO and is expected to be complete by Sept 30/09. One bid was solicited on Oct 31/06, and 1 bid was received (DAAA09-99-D-0016).
The contract is slated to finance the ongoing modernization and enhancement of ammunition production at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, a legacy of World War II that remains the USA’s main manufacturing plant for small caliber (.50 caliber and lower) ammunition. In July 2005, “Pass The Ammunition: Army Taking Action on Small-Cal Shortages” explained the issues American forces have faced with ammunition shortages, and the steps that have been taken over the past few years to address this issue.
When the USA and the Netherlands deployed their AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters to Afghanistan, the Longbow millimeter-wave radar that sits atop the rotor didn’t accompany them. The Dutch helicopters didn’t have that option due to budget pressures, and the Americans decided that the mast-mounted radar would just compromise performance against an opponent that had no armored vehicles to track, and no weapons that made fire-and-forget missile tactics necessary.
The British thought about it, and decided to take a different tack. Their WAH-64s were equipped with RTM322 Mk250 engines [PDF], giving them commonalities with the EH101 Merlin fleet and 2,260 shp – a 19% boost over the 1,890 shp GE T701Cs that power most other Apaches. With power to spare and additional internal fuel tanks, they kept the radars on and focused on finding ways to use them in theater…
Australia’s new artillery from the LAND 17 project is going to need modern ammunition. Come to think of it, their existing M198 155m artillery pieces need modern ammunition as well. Those ammunition purchases can influence artillery selection in cases like the GPS-guided M982 Excalibur, which is pre-qualified on a limited number of platforms to date. Other choices are less constraining, such as the recent A$ 14 million ($USD $12.5 million) purchase of precision-guided anti-tank artillery shells. The German Diehl/Rheinmetall GIWS(Gesellschaft fur Intelligente Wirksysteme mbH) partnership’s SMArt 155 (Sensor fuzed Munition for the ARTillery) can be fired from any 155mm gun, replacing the Copperhead laser-guided 155mm shell which is at the end of its service life. Australian DoD release | Fact sheet | Q&A session.
sub-munition
The SMArt 155 shells contain 2 active sub-munitions that deploy by parachute, using redundant radar/radiometer/infrared sensors to detect armored vehicles. They attack through the top armor, using explosively-formed penetrators that serve as a sort of instant tank shell. Redundant mechanisms will destroy the shell if it finds no targets, and a further backup will render it inert if they fail for some reason.
SMArt 155 is already in production, and serves with Germany, Greece, and Switzerland; a partnership with ATK markets it in the USA. Deliveries of the projectiles and the associated propelling charges, fuzes, and inductive fuze setters to Australia are expected to start in late 2007.
Singapore’s decision to buy the F-15SG Strike Eagle as a replacement for its A-4SU Super Skyhawks has already sparked one weapons purchase to outfit the new aircraft. The August 2005 DSCA request mostly involved air-air weapons, plus ancillary equipment and a handful of JDAM and JSOW precision weapons. Now the DSCA reports that Singapore has submitted a request for another handful of precision strike weapons, and a lot of training assistance “to support its F-15 aircraft”.
The proposed sale is worth up to $200 million, and the principal contractors will be F-15 primes Boeing Integrated Defense Solutions of St. Louis, MO and General Electric Aircraft Engines Division of Cincinnati, OH. Components of the request include:
The grenade machine gun was invented to provide area-effect infantry firepower that could decimate enemy infantry with fragmentation bursts from multiple 40mm grenades. The Saco/GD Mk19 is one of the world’s most common GMGs, and events in Afghanistan et. al. are making these weapons very popular. No weapon can be effective without proper training, however – which leads to the question of how one does live training involving a GMG? Glad you asked…
Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH, doing business as Niederlassung NICO Trittau in Trittau, Germany, just received $39 million for delivery order #0003 under a previously awarded firm-fixed indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-06-D-1027) for the production of 1,496,000 40mm MK281 Mod 0 Practice Cartridges, plus accompanying non-recurring costs. The MK 281 is a training cartridge consisting of 32 rounds linked together in a belt for use in the Mk19 Grenade Machine Gun. Upon impact with the ground, the cartridges expel a non-toxic orange dye that is visible up to a minimum of 1,200 meters in normal daylight conditions, and a chemiluminescent insert that is visible up to 500 meters in darkness (especially with night vision goggles).
That ought to remove the old “I hit you… Did not… Did too…” discussions we all remember so well. Work will be performed Trittau, Germany, is work is expected to be completed by September 2008. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Program Manager for Ammunition in Quantico, VA issued the contract.
This course will go from fighter fundamentals training to a “capstone” course that takes experienced pilots and significantly improves their tactical proficiency. Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals in Texas is a pre-cursor to F-16 Block 60-transition training, which UAE pilots will receive in Tucson, AZ. The US DSCA announced the request on June 18/07 as:
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress [PDF format] of Iraq’s request of various small arms ammunition, explosives, and other consumables as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $508 million.
The contractors are unknown at this time, and there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale, which includes 75 million gallons of diesel fuel, $56.4 million gallons of MOGAS (gasoline), and 2.9 million gallons of JP-8 jet fuel. Iraq is also looking to buy ammunition for small arms, grenades, pyrotechnics, and explosives for demolition that includes:
