The Defense Supply Center in Philadephia, PA awarded $160 million in firm-fixed-price contracts for maintenance and repair work in the Diego Garcia Zone, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Both of these indefinite quantity/ indefinite delivery contracts cover the Army, Navy and Marine Corps over a two year base period, and expire at the end of March, 2007. Proposals were submitted on the web, with four responses.
Small business qualifier Supply Core Inc. of Rockford, IL won a $100 million contract (SP0500-05-D-BP06) for work as a Prime Vendor in the Diego Garcia Zone, Singapore, and Japan. Universal Sodexho in Tacoma, WA won a $60 million contract (SP0500-05-D-BP07) for work as a Prime Vendor in the Diego Garcia Zone, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
MPRI Inc. of Alexandria, VA won a $7.4 million firm-fixed-price contract to operate and maintain the Butler artillery range in Iraq. The contract is expected to end by Dec. 31, 2005. Bids were solicited via the web on Dec. 13, 2004, and three bids were received. The Victory Contracting Office in Baghdad, Iraq issued the contract (W27P4C-05-M-0796).
Two F136 engine prototypes are reaching static-test milestones under a 10-year-old General Electric/ Rolls-Royce project to produce the second engine option for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Both conventional engines and Short Takeoff/ Vertical Landing (SToVL) variants are being tested. The JSF engine program has brought together the expertise of the three major U.S. and British manufacturers, resulting in unprecedented levels of coordination to make the F136 and F135 engines interchangeable across the three F-35 variants, with common hardware compatible with each engine’s systems.
The GE/Rolls-Royce team is two to four years behind (see full timeline) Pratt & Whitney’s F135, a derivative of the F119 engine fitted on the F-22 Raptor. The F135 will power the JSF through its first 3 production lots of about 75 aircraft. Meanwhile, the F136 team is just completing work associated with the $411 million Phase III System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract to evaluate an engine for the three versions of the JSF. As the 2002 contract ends in coming months, GE/Rolls is anticipating a $2 billion full SDD contract by the Joint Strike Fighter project office to develop and build 15 engines through 2012. The deadline for the final proposal is Apr. 30, 2005.
Raytheon Co., Electronics Systems in Goleta, CA received a $44 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0123) for 42 AN/ALR-67(V)3 Radar Warning Receiver systems for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, plus 5 spares for the Navy’s inventory. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (39%); Forest, MI (27%); Goleta, CA (16%); Lansdale, PA (10%); Portland, OR (5%), and McKinney, TX (3%), and is expected to be completed in September 2007. The Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, MD exercising this option for the seventh full-rate-production lot of the Radar Warning Receivers.
The NSA has issued modified handling instructions during development, integration and testing of the FAB-T modem processor group because of delays in the completion of Cryptographics Verification and Design Verification testing of Government Furnished Equipment ACTS cryptographic devices. In order to comply with ACTS handling guidance provided by the NSA, the Boeing Co. in Anaheim, CA received a $10.5 million cost-plus award-fee Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) for Contract Change Proposal (CCP)-0011: ACTS (Security Chip) Handling procedures, in order to enhance physical protection and procedural changes. This guidance requires physical security and emanation protection of the test facility, and will limit contact with the test equipment to personnel with appropriate clearances. The Headquarters Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA issued the contract (F19628-02-C-0048, P00051), which is expected to end in September 2008.
A consortium of 24 cybersecurity organizations recently began a $8.5 million, two-year research program for securing computer-based systems that control critical infrastructure such as dams, pipelines, water treatment plants, et. al. The federally-funded consortium, known as I3P, will support basic research to understand supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and produce technology products to mitigate any flaws in those systems. The consortium, which was founded in September 2001, is also actively pursuing industry partnerships to help guide research and for technology transfer opportunities. Federal Computer Weekly: Group Studies Infrastructure Threats
The recent dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia is leading Indonesia’s military to request significant increases in spending, in order to update and maintain to its aging equipment. Military spending this year is set at Rp 21.9 trillion (USD $2.4 billion), up slightly from Rp 21.4 trillion last year and Rp 11.53 trillion in 2003.
Indonesian defense officials noted that their military is unlikely to purchase new arms before 2007; nevertheless, the issue of spares and maintenance is a significant problem in light of a 13 year old U.S. arms embargo over human rights violations in East Timor. Cumbersome internal procurement policies create further barriers to effectiveness, and Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has noted that abolishing the legal requirement to procure all equipment through “third parties or private partners” could save the military up to 50%. Observers have noted that these regulations have often been a vehicle for corruption. Jakarta Post article.
