FCS Rolls on, Boeing Receives Another $219M

The Boeing Co. in St. Louis, MO received a $219.2M increment as part of a $17.35 billion cost-plus-fixed-fee/ cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the Future Combat System development and demonstration phase. Boeing and SAIC are the lead system integrators for this program, which means they receive instructions from the military re: the capabilities they want, then manage the requirements, development, RFPs and contracts etc. to achieve those goals.

Military reviews are interspersed throughout the process, and indeed the FCS recently passed a “System of Systems” Functional Review that lasted five days and included almost 40 briefings at 24 different sites across the country. Still, the program has definitely had its ups and downs. Readers may wish to view:

Thales Sale May Create Strong Optical Competitor

Thales and Candover Investments plc have reached agreement on the sale of Thales High Tech Optics (HTO) activities in the UK, US, Singapore, Germany and Hungary. Under the agreement, Candover has acquired the businesses, regarded as non-strategic for Thales, for a total consideration of EUR 220 million (USD $264.4 million), payable in cash. The sale is conditional upon regulatory approval.

Based on statements from both Thales HTO and Candover, further acquisitions and expansion are definite possibilities for the new company. Meanwhile, firms like South Africa’s Denel, who had intended to position themselves as niche partners to the larger European defense firms, may be watching the emergence of an important optical and optronics competitor.

$153.3M to Support US Navy’s T-45 Pilot Training System

T-45 Goshawks

In 1981, the T45TS beat out the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet in a bid to replace two US Navy training aircraft (the TA-4J Skyhawk and T-2C Buckeye). The system trains U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots for conversion into the F/A-18A-D Hornet, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the AV-8B Harrier II Plus, and the EA-6B Prowler.

DID covers offers some background regarding the US Navy’s T45TS and its performance, along with information regarding a pair of support contracts for this system worth $153.3 million that were recently issued by the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD…

$29.4M in Contracts Related to 40mm Grenade Systems

Mk 19

40mm grenades are a potent battlefield weapon. Fired singly from an M203 rifle mount, or in a devastating rain from a gun like the Mk19 and its competitors/successors, the 40mm grenade brings considerable firepower to the infantry fight. It’s also lethal against unarmored or lightly armored vehicles. Some companies are even offering shotgun-style repeating launchers, like Milkor’s MGL-140 – or even weapons that can be fired around corners!

In recent days, the US military has issued a series of contracts related to 40mm grenade weapons.

nVidia Graphic Processors for F/A-18… The Fighter, not the Computer Game

The game…

Honeywell International, Inc. Defense and Space Electronic Systems in Albuquerque, NM received a $5.2 million firm-fixed-price contract for a Life of Type buy of 7,020 Quantum 3D/nVidia graphic processors. The chips to be used in the image processor module within the advanced mission computer for the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft.

Work will be performed in San Jose, CA (90%) and Albuquerque, NM (10%), and is expected to be complete in November 2005.

…the EA-18G Fighter

This contract was not competitively procured; Quantum3D holds the exclusive rights, worldwide, to market nVidia graphics technology to the military and aerospace sectors. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD is the contracting activity (N00019-05-C-0071).

CROWS Gather in Iraq: $8M More

CROWS

DID has covered the CROWS remotely-operated machine gun before, its use in Iraq on up-armored HMMWVs and M1117 Guardian vehicles, and even an ongoing blog by a CROWS service technician in Iraq. His latest installment notes that they’re moving into a “train the trainer” phase.

Recon/Optical Inc. in Barrington, IL received an $8 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for more CROWS systems. Work will be performed in Barrington, IL and is expected to be complete by March 30, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Aug. 16, 2005 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Picatinny Arsenal, NJ (W15QKN-05-C-1209).

$6.4M for Media/PR Help in Baghdad

The Rendon Group Inc. in Washington, DC received a $6.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for Strategic Communications Operation Support. Rendon is a PR firm who specializes in media training, media relations, and public communication during high-stakes situations. Work will be performed in Baghdad, Iraq, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 15, 2006. There were seven bids solicited on Sept. 16, 2005, and two bids were received. The Joint Contracting Command – Iraq/Afghanistan in Baghdad, Iraq, issued the contract (W27P4A-05-C-0014).

$6.9M for Penetrator Bomb Casings

BLU-109/B Penetrator:
Battery Kits Are Extra

Small business qualifier Ellwood National Forge Co. in Irvine, PA received a $6.9 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for BLU-109/B Empty Cases, and CNU-417 Containers for Multiple Air Force Weapons Platforms. The BLU-109/B (I-2000) is an improved 2,000-pound-class bomb designed as a penetrator without a forward fuze well. Its configuration is relatively slim in order to help it punch through concrete, and its skin is a single-piece, forged warhead casing of one-inch, high-grade steel that’s much harder than that of the standard MK-84 bomb. The BLU-109/B can be mated with a laser guidance kit to form a GBU-24/A penetrator bomb, or it can be fitted with a JDAM GPS/INS guidance kit.

Work on this contract will be performed in Irvine, PA and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2006. This was a sole source contract initiated on Aug. 18, 2005 by the U.S. Army Field Support Command at Rock Island, IL (DAAA09-01-C-0049).

$7M for Pap Tests

Cytec Corporation in Marlborough, MA received a maximum $7 million firm fixed price contract for ThinPrep Pap test kit and related supplies to the Army, Navy and Air Force. This is an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity type contract with a one-year base period and 4 one-year option periods. This was a Web-solicited sole source and one responded. Performance completion date for the base year is September 30, 2006, and the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) in Philadelphia, PA issued the contract (SP0200-041-D-7201).