Department of Defense & Industry Daily News
Advertisement
Defense program acquisition news, budget data, market briefings
  • Contact
    Editorial
    Advertising
    Feedback & Support
    Subscriptions & Reports
  • Subscribe
    Paid Subscription
    in-depth program analysis & data sets
    Free Email Newsletter
    quick daily updates
    Google+ Twitter RSS
  • Log in
    Forgot your password?
    Not yet a subscriber? Find out what you have been missing.
Archives by category > Biological Weapons (RSS)

DTRA & Achaogen Targeting Class A Bacterial Pathogens

Sep 25, 2011 12:04 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Another research contract; WSJ Top 50.
WMD Nuclear BioHazard

Achaogen in San Francisco, CA is working on “preclinical development of novel therapeutics that reduce the virulence of, and inhibit resistance in, Class A Bacterial Pathogens.” Achaogen closed a $26 million round of venture financing in October 2006, and they had raised $103 million in equity by March 2011. Their approach focuses on small molecules that inhibit the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Initial efforts had the goal of making the bacteria susceptible to existing fluoroquinolones, and potentially to other classes of antibacterial drugs.

So, just what are “Class A bacterial pathogens?” You certainly know some of them by name.

Continue Reading… »

DTRA’s Counter-WMD R&DE: $220M to ARA

Aug 31, 2011 16:48 UTC

WMD nuclear biohazard

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has a central role in addressing the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Their Research and Development Enterprise [PDF] is especially wide-ranging, covering everything from protective gear, to predictive and decision-support algorithms, to ScanEagle UAV variants that can monitor WMD levels, to co-operative non-proliferation programs, to development of new weapons like the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. Some of this work has even led to commercial spinoffs, vid. Sanofi Pasteur’s acquisition of VaxDesign and its DARPA/DTRA-financed MIMC model: an in vitro tool capable of predicting human immune response to specific bio-threat agents.

Continue Reading… »

The USA’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

May 04, 2011 18:10 UTC

Latest updates[?]: 5-6 year, $950M contract.
Advertisement
WMD_Nuclear_BioHazard.jpg

Through the Co-operative Threat Reduction program, the Department of Defense provides equipment, services, and technical advice to Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine to assist them in eliminating (or in the case of Russia, reducing) the weapons of mass destruction remaining from the Soviet era, and preventing proliferation. That means dismantling the associated infrastructure, or transforming portions of it to engage in peaceful civilian activities.

The U.S. objectives in the CTR program as established by Congress are to cooperate with the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union to:

Continue Reading… »

DTRA Researching Hemorrhagic Fever Anti-Viral Compounds

Aug 24, 2010 17:21 UTC

Ebola patient

Ebola patient

Significant progress at AVI Biopharma? (Aug 22/10)

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir, VA is awarding contracts to find new anti-viral compounds that are effective against hemorrhagic fever viruses, a class that includes Ebola and other diseases.

Drug development is a long and expensive process ($100 million is often mentioned as the table stakes to get a drug through approvals), and promising therapies do not all make it through the research and testing stages. Even so, the research is interesting:

  • AVI BioPharma’s AntiSense Approach [updated]
  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals & Tekmira’s RNAi Approach
  • Functional Genetics’ TSG101 Approach
  • Peregrine Pharmaceuticals’ Bavituximab
  • Contracts & Key Events [updated]

Continue Reading… »

US Funds Novel Anti-Bacterial Research at PolyMedix

Jul 23, 2009 10:16 UTC

PolyMedix

PolyMedix of Radnor, PA has now received 3 biodefense-related contracts from the US government, including a a $1.6 million, 1-year contract from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to develop new “defensin-mimetic antibiotic compounds.” The primary goal of that contract is to devise more effective rapid-response countermeasures against anthrax, plague, and tularemia. Other work may have benefits against pan-Staphylococcal infections, and pneumonia.

How does their proposed approach work, and what makes it novel?

  • BAAC to the Future?
  • Contracts and Key Events [updated]
  • Additional Readings

Continue Reading… »

Cubic’s Task: SimNBC

Jul 28, 2008 12:28 UTC

WMD_Nuclear_BioHazard.jpg

How do you train militaries and public agencies for the challenges and scale of nuclear, chemical, or biological (NBC) attacks or outbreaks, without creating unacceptable levels of disruption in society’s daily workings during the exercise? The US military has similar scope and space problems for other military exercises. Its solution is a combination of live training, virtual simulators et. al., and “constructive” environments. That last piece of the puzzle integrates the live and virtual efforts in an imaginary world, and provides status reports to commanders.

Right now, the “live virtual constructive” training environment for NBC operations appears to be falling short of its goals. To fix this, Cubic Applications, Inc. in Lacey, WA received a not-to-exceed $16.3 million cost-plus-fix-fee contract. They will provide investigative research and analysis, explore emerging technologies, and develop proof-of-concept/ prototype solutions to the shortfalls in realistic Nuclear, Chemical and Biological training. The goal is to create “a single, more realistic operational and training environment for the Live Virtual Constructive.”

Work will be performed in Shalimar, FL and is expected to be complete in May 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $2 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a Broad Agency Announcement, with 1 offer received by The Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL (N61339-08-C-0024).

Up to 5-years, $500M to SAIC to Protect Infrastructure from WMD

Jun 01, 2008 19:13 UTC

CORP_SAIC.gif

Science Applications International Corporation recently announced an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, joint services contract from the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) — Installation Protection Program (IPP). The program was initiated in December 2003, and is managed by the Joint Project Manager Guardian (JPMG) for the Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) for Chemical and Biological Defense, and the goal is to ensure that American military installations can continue operating after being hit with CBRN weapons.

The concept is nothing new. After all, that very motivation is what spurred the creation of the ARPANet – now the Internet. In Europe, NATO’s reliance on nuclear deterrence rather than conventional military parity made military operations in a nuclear environment a certain planning scenario. Meanwhile, Soviet doctrine emphasized heavy front line and second echelon use of chemical weapons in a major war’s opening offensive phases, forcing corresponding bio-chemical preparations. Biological weapon defenses were considered a secondary aspect, but that conceit was shaken after advanced, treaty-breaking Soviet biological weapons programs came to light through the post-Soviet revelations of scientists like Dr. Ken Alibek.

WMD_Nuclear_BioHazard.jpg

The need for JPMG’s IPP is nothing new, therefore. What has changed is the depth profile of the threat. A Soviet strike on the Pentagon would almost certainly have triggered global thermonuclear war, in a way that chemical or even nuclear strikes across and behind the front lines in West Germany and the Netherlands likely would not. On the other hand, it’s quite possible to launch a strike against the Pentagon in the modern era, using supported organizations that confer deniability. With the notion of restrictions on targets or means destroyed by 9/11’s example, modern planners are faced with a growing threat in the new era that extends to a much wider range of military installations.

SAIC worked with JPMG on the original contract, and the new contract has a one year base period of performance plus 4 one-year options, with a contract ceiling value of $500 million if all options are exercised. SAIC will provide program management and execution of all phases of the IPP’s design, purchases, integration and fielding. They will then support the system’s architecture, training and exercises, and logistics, while providing technical expertise, equipment, and services to meet current program requirements. Work will be performed primarily in Abingdon, MD.

$6M for Intercellular Bio-agent Countermeasures

May 04, 2008 12:27 UTC

WMD_Nuclear_BioHazard.jpg

Genetic Chemistry, Inc. in Palo Alto, CA received a $6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for “research to develop countermeasures to an intercellular bio threat agent.”

Work will be performed in Palo Alto, CA and is expected to be complete by July 28/11. Multiple bids were solicited in October 2006, and 1 bid was received by the Research, Development & Engineering Command Acquisition Center in Research Triangle Park, NC (W911NF-08-C-0023).

US Army Purchases 5 Linux Supercomputers for TI-06 Upgrades

Feb 23, 2006 06:58 UTC

ELEC_ARL-MSRC_Ammo_Turbulence.jpg

Ammo turbulence

The ability to use open-source operating systems like Linux with “clusters” of computing hardware that include many commodity components has really changed the supercomputing landscape. Complex physics-based problems that are three dimensional and time-dependent are especially difficult, and benefit greatly from the additional computing power per dollar that’s rapidly becoming available. This has had a significant impact in sectors like movies and TV, energy, and pharmaceuticals – not to mention the defense industry.

The DoD’s High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) recently placed an order with Linux Networx for 5 supercomputers as part of the Technology Insertion 2006 (TI-06) initiative. They are part of a broader effort to modernize the US DoD’s computing capabilities, by providing the supercomputer services, high-speed network communications, and expertise for U.S. Defense laboratories. The recipients, and the type and capabilities of the systems they received, are detailed below:

Continue Reading… »

Raytheon Wins $82.1M to Support CTR in Russia

Aug 11, 2005 10:24 UTC

WMD_CTR_Dismantled_Sub.jpg

Rusting out all over

Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC (RTSC) received a task order with a potential value of $82.1 million from the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a.k.a. Nunn-Lugar. The task order is for assistance under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program.

The U.S. Department of Defense provides equipment, services, and technical advice under CTR to Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The aims are to assist them in eliminating (or in the case of Russia, reducing) the weapons of mass destruction remaining from the Soviet era, prevent proliferation, foster military cooperation, and dismantle the associated infrastructure or transforming portions of it to engage in peaceful civilian activities. The CTR program is implemented by means of a number of subsidiary programs that are focused on meeting these four objectives.

Continue Reading… »
1 2 3 Next »
Advertisement
Archives
  • MIL
  • BIZ
  • GEO
  • DAY

Aircraft

Air Reconnaissance
Blimps & LTA Craft
Engines - Aircraft
Equipment - Other
Fighters & Attack
Heavy Bombers
Helicopters & Rotary
Protective Systems - Aircraft
Specialty Aircraft
Transport & Utility
UAVs

Electronics & IT

Avionics
ECM
Electronics - General
Eng. Control Systems
IT - Cyber-Security
IT - General
IT - Networks & Bandwidth
IT - Software & Integration
Radars
Sensors & Guidance
Signals Radio & Wireless
Simulation & Training

Land Equipment

Engineering Vehicles
Engines
Other Equipment - Land
Robots
Soldier's Gear
Tanks & Mechanized
Trucks & Transport

Logistics & Support

Asstd. Support Equipment
Bases & Infrastructure
C4ISR
Chemicals & HAZMAT
Clothing
Engineer Units
Environmental
Financial & Accounting
Food-related
Fuel & Power
Intelligence & PsyOps
Logistics
Marketing & Advertising
Medical
MPs & Justice
Power Projection
Public Relations
Signals Intercept, Cryptography, etc.
Support & Maintenance
Support Functions - Other
Testing & Evaluation

Military Overall

Expeditionary Warfare
Force Structure
Forces - Air
Forces - Land
Forces - Marines
Forces - Naval
Forces - Space
Forces - Special Ops
Forces - Strategic
Interoperability
Leadership & People
Memoriam
Policy - Doctrine
Policy - Personnel
Policy - Procurement
Security & Secrecy
Training & Exercises
Transformation
Warfare - Lessons
Warfare - Trends

Naval Equipment

Coastal & Littoral
Engines & Propulsion - Naval
Protective Systems - Naval
Sensors - Aquatic
Submarines
Surface Ships - Combat
Surface Ships - Other
UUVs & USVs

Ordnance & Guns

ABM
Ammunition
Bombs - Cluster
Bombs - General
Bombs - Smart
Explosives
Grenades
Guns - 20-59 mm direct
Guns - 60+ mm direct
Guns - Artillery & Mortars
Guns - Naval
Guns - Personal Weapons
Guns - under 20mm direct
Laser & EM Weapons
Mines & Countermine-IED
Missiles - Air-Air
Missiles - Anti-Armor
Missiles - Anti-Ship
Missiles - Ballistic
Missiles - Precision Attack
Missiles - Surface-Air
Non-Lethal Weapons
Other Weapons
Remote Weapons Systems
Rockets
Shells & Mortar Rounds
Underwater Weapons

Space

GPS Infrastructure
Launch Facilities
Launch Vehicles
Satellites & Sensors
Space Warfare

WMD

Biological Weapons
Chemical Weapons
Nuclear Weapons
WMD Defenses
WMD Detection
WMD Proliferation

Corporation

Airbus
ATK
BAE
Boeing
Consulting Firms
DCNS
Elbit Systems
Finmeccanica
GE
General Atomics
General Dynamics
HAL
Honeywell
IAI
L3 Communications
Lockheed Martin
MBDA
Navistar
Northrop-Grumman
Oshkosh
Other Corporation
RAFAEL
Raytheon
Rolls Royce
Rosoboronexport
Security Contractor
Small Business
T&C - Big 5 Firms
T&C - Booz Allen
T&C - CSC
T&C - EDS
T&C - IBM
T&C - Microsoft
T&C - RAND Corp.
T&C - SAIC
T&C - SRI
Textron
Thales
United Technologies
University-related

DID site

Daily Rapid Fire
Early Edition
FOCUS Articles
Guest Articles
Sharpen yourself
Spotlight articles

Industry

Conferences & Events
Contracts - Awards
Contracts - Intent
Contracts - Modifications
Corporate Financials
Delivery & Task Orders
Industry & Trends
Mergers & Acquisitions
Partnerships & Consortia
People
Pre-RFP
Projections & Assessments
RFPs
Rumours

Innovation

After-Action Reviews
Corporate Innovations
DARPA
Design Innovations
Field Innovations
Logistics Innovations
Materials Innovations
New Systems Tech
Procurement Innovations
R&D - Contracted
R&D - Private
Science - Basic Research

News

Events
Field Reports

Politics

Alliances
Budgets
Domestic Security
Issues - Environmental
Issues - International
Issues - Political
Legal
Lobbying
Official Reports
Public Partnering
Scandals & Investigations
Think Tanks

Projects

Project Failures
Project Management
Project Methodologies
Project Successes

Americas

Americas - Other
Brazil
Canada
USA

Asia

Asia - Central
Asia - Other
Australia & S. Pacific
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Singapore
South Korea

Europe

Britain/U.K.
Europe - Other
European Union (EU)
France
Germany
Russia

Middle East & Africa

Africa - Other
Iraq
Israel
Middle East - Other
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Other Geo

Oceans - International
Outer Space
Polar Regions

2023

January

2022

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2021

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2020

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2019

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2018

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2017

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2016

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2015

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2014

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2013

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2012

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2011

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2010

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2009

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2008

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2007

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2006

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2005

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
White Papers & Events
Advertisement
Advertisement

© 2004-2023 Defense Industry Daily, LLC | About Us | Images on this site | Privacy Policy

Contact us: Editorial | Advertising | Feedback & Support | Subscriptions & Reports

Follow us: Twitter | Google+

Stay Up-to-Date on Defense Programs Developments with Free Newsletter

DID's daily email newsletter keeps you abreast of contract developments, pictures, and data, put in the context of their underlying political, business, and technical drivers.