After scrapping a EUR 4.9 billion deal with EADS for 60 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, Greece’s center-right government announced that it has decided to buy 30 Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D jets from the U.S. instead, with an option for 10 more. The order for the aircraft and accompanying equipment and weapons would cost up to $3.1 billion if all options are exercised, and is designed to address the nation’s air defense needs over the next 15 years. The jets would join 50 F-16C/D Block 50/52 aircraft already in service with the Hellenic Air Force (EPA, or Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia in Greek) under a 2000 contract. The new contract’s exact figures will depend on negotiations, and will include industrial offset benefits and support for the rest of the F-16s Block 52s and earlier models belonging to the EPA.
The Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) has approved a bilateral agreement with the German government for the procurement of 333 used German army Leopard-1 and Leopard-2 tanks. The cost of the tanks is estimated at EUR 270 million (USD $324 Million). Germany has sold a large number of surplus-designated Leopard and Leopard 2 tanks to countries around Europe and Scandanavia. Additional contracts to German industryf for upgrading them to newer configurations often follow close behind. In March 2002, the Hellenic Army of Greece announced that it had selected the Leopard 2 GR, with a requirement for 170 tanks.
In additional news, the KYSEA approved a new command structure for the Greek Armed Forces, designed to make them more flexible and efficient.
Lockheed Martin has received a five-year, $120 million cost-plus-award-fee contract from BAE Systems for further development and test of the Long-Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) for the Advanced Gun System (AGS) on the U.S. Navy’s next- generation destroyer, the DD (X). The new contract calls for additional development and tests in 2006-2008 and support to AGS qualification testing in 2009-2010. More than 100 projectiles will be delivered and tested under this contract. Full-rate production is expected to begin in 2011.
The 155mm LRLAP is intended to provide rapid-response, high-volume, GPS/INS guided fire up to 100 miles inshore in support of U.S. Marines and allied units. See: Corporate Release (July 19/05)
Finmeccanica SpA subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica has signed a contract with the Nigerian Air Force to refurbish and support its five 1980s-vintage Aeritalia G222 transport aircraft. The two-year agreement is worth $74.5 million. Alenia’s responsibilities will include technical training of pilot instructors, technicians, engineers, load masters and the logistic support staff, as well as maintenance equipment, and new infrastructure at the military base of Ilorin (approximately 300 km from the Federal Capital Lagos). The Nigerian Air Force will also be given an additional second-hand G222 aircraft.
The agreement is part of a wider initiative by Alenia Aeronautica towards many international customers of the G222 (105 were sold), in order to keep these aircraft serviceable and able to meet mission requirements. Alenia Aeronautica also sells new C-27J Spartan aircraft as a successor to the G222, in a cooperative venture with Lockheed Martin. Nigeria’s G222s transport aircraft fleet are often used in peace-keeping deployments within the African continent. Corporate Release [PDF format]
Earlier this month, DID covered changes in the USA military’s organizational structure around UAVs. A Joint UAV Center of Excellence is being established at Creech Air Force Base, NV, concentrating on UAV-systems technology, joint concepts, training, tactics, and procedural solutions to the warfighters’ needs across all services.
The U.S. Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, AL has now been designated as the new U.S. Army Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Center of Excellence, to serve an integrating hub for all 12 Army installations which currently have a UAV component. This will also create one Army voice to be able to represent UAVs at headquarters, to the joint centers of excellence, and to the joint structure.
The U.S. Army awarded Boeing a $41.5 million contract for the refurbishment of 70 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters under the Reset Program. This is a follow-on to a contract awarded in 2004 for the reset of 15 Apaches.
The Apache Reset Program is designed to quickly return heavily used AH-64 Apaches and AH-64D Apache Longbows to original condition within 60 days, after they return from operational deployments in desert and other extremely harsh environmental conditions. Tasks include intense cleaning and repair of all components, material management and parts for critical shortage items, repairs for battle and crash damage, and complete testing of the aircraft after all maintenance is finished. Work for this program is performed at the Boeing Logistics Support Systems Williams Gateway site in Mesa, AZ.
Boeing Release
SBA qualifying firm SelectTech Services Corp. in Centerville, OH received a $24 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to provide for the Agile Eagle Program. This program should not be confused with the F-15B Agile Eagle STOL program of the 1990s (and now NASA testbed) – instead, it covers the research, design, development, assembly, modification and testing of specialized airborne communications packages, including the fabrication and delivery of one Command Control Module and one System Integration Laboratory. The Air Force can issue delivery orders totaling up to $24 million, although actual requirements may necessitate less.
Work will be performed in the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. Solicitation began May 2005, negotiations were completed July 2005, and work will be complete by July 2011. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8650-05-D-4313).
Galileo Industries and the European Space Agency (ESA), both in charge of the global architecture of the EUR 3.2B ($4.2B) European Galileo satellite system, have chosen Thales’ advanced security expertise to specify and design the security policy for the EU’s Galileo satellite project. Security requirements include communications security, which entails protecting networks and signals; authentication and access control for each level of service; data confidentiality and integrity control; and attack prevention. Contract figures were not announced.
Intended for civilian and commercial users as well as government applications, Galileo must ensure optimum security at all levels to achieve complete and reliable service. The EU is hoping Galileo will provide an alternative to the Pentagon-controlled Global Positioning System (GPS), and also tap a growing worldwide demand for satellite communications that it believes may be worth as much as EUR 300 billion by 2020. See Thales release, and all DID coverage of the Galileo Program.
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in Frederick, MD received a $12.3 million increment as part of a $36.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for vision setting and programmatic review support for congressionally-directed medical research programs. Work will be performed in Frederick, MD and is expected to be complete by Aug. 4, 2008. There were 13 bids solicited on Jan. 24, 2005, and two bids were received. The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity in Fort Detrick, MD issued the contract (DAMD17-05-C-0133).
