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The US Department of Defense has released details per Congress’ Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) requirements for the Sept. 30, 2005, reporting period. SARs summarize the latest estimates of a major program’s cost, schedule, and technical status. Quarterly SARs are submitted for initial reports, final reports, and for programs that are rebaselined at major milestone decisions. Subsequent quarterly exception reports are required only for those programs experiencing unit cost increases of at least 15% or schedule delays of at least 6 months.
Total program costs reflect actual costs to date as well as future anticipated costs, and includes anticipated inflation allowances – sources at Bell Helicopter explained that this is why the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter was listed as a $2.2 billion program by DID (current dollars), but a $3.57 billion program in its initial baseline SAR submission. The overall document is relatively short and to the point, chronicling everything from new program baselines (ARH helicopters, JLENS aerostats) to regular program milestone reporting (F/A-22 fighter, LHD Wasp Class finishing under budget), to programs experiencing 15%+ cost slippage and/or 6 month+ delays (CVN-21 carrier, DD (X) destroyer, SBIRS satellites, ACS spy planes, etc.)
DID has covered the roles of the various organizations active in European defense integration efforts, from the EDA (EU’s European Defense Agency) to the OCCAR (The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation). We also covered the multi-role Franco-Italian FREMM frigate program’s recent troubles and subsequent narrow escape.
Now OCCAR has awarded France’s DCN and Thales (Armaris) and Italy’s Fincanteri and Finmeccanica (Orizzonte Sistemi Navale) the first phase of contracts for developing and building the multi-role warships. MBDA will also be a major participant, as the FREMMs will mostly be equipped with its missiles. Up to 27 frigates are currently planned, making it one of Europe’s largest-ever warship programs; Armaris has also signaled a strong desire to sell the FREMM frigates abroad. With respect to this contract…
DID can now close out the story of the 77 refurbished Hungarian T-72s that will equip Iraq’s 9th Army Division (Mechanized). MNF-I’s Nov. 12, 2005 issue of The Advisor magazine notes that the division took delivery of the tanks over three days at their HQ in Taji, north of Baghdad. The delivery culminated on Veterans Day, and also included 36 tracked BMP infantry fighting vehicles, 4 armored recovery vehicles and several containers of parts and weaponry.
Hungary had approached Iraq earlier this year about donating the T-72 tanks; another country offered to donate 500 BMPs through NATO, but Iraq accepted only 100 of them. The remaining 64 BMPs are expected in the coming months.
Further growth is also planned for Iraq’s lone armored division, whose story thus far has been little short of inspirational.
On November 17, 2006, Stork Aerospace N.V. of the Netherlands and U.S. firm Pratt & Whitney announced an agreement for the production development of components for the new P&W F135 jet engine, one of the two interchangeable engines that will power the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This agreement involves new High Performance Machining (HPM) technology for titanium components, and represents a breakthrough in titanium machining as an advanced and efficient production technology for aircraft jet engines.
High Speed Machining (HSM) is a production technology for components by means of the machining of solid aluminum to create the desired final form and dimensions. It creates weight savings, consistent quality and substantial cost savings through the elimination of sub-assembly work. HPM is a further development of HSM that works with harder materials like titanium. This allows for a number of improvements, including:
MTU Aero Engines has signed a contract with the German Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (Bundesamt fur Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung or BWB), expanding the existing industry-military Cooperative Model of engine maintenance for the EJ200 engines that power Germany’s Eurofighters. The new, expanded agreement also includes the Turbo Union RB199 engines in Germany’s Tornado strike fighters, the GE J79 engines that powers its aging F-4 Phantom IIs, and the RR250-C20 that drives its BO 105 multi-role helicopters.
MTU claims to be the world’s largest independent provider of commercial engine maintenance services in terms of sales. The 10-year contract is worth EUR 370 million euros, of which approximately EUR 100 million are additional sales for MTU. The Bundeswehr (German armed forces), meanwhile, believe that they will save EUR 37 million euros through the deal. Further details are available in the full release [MS Word].
DID has recently covered the genesis and purpose of The Pentagon’s new Business Transformation Agency, and its first major appointment. Contractors and others who wish to learn more about the BTA can now do so at the agency’s web site. The site offers a good start, covering the BTA’s mission, priorities, governance and leadership, and key projects.
UPDATE: Standard good practices on the web involve redirecting links at the server level when they change. That wasn’t done in this case; the BTA site can now be found here.
Genco Infrastructure Solutions Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA won a maximum $40.6 million firm-fixed-price, time and materials, hybrid-type contract for material distribution services at the Defense Logistics Agency’s Defense Distribution Center (DDC) in San Diego, CA. These include receipt, packaging, packing and marking, storage, preservation and care of supplies in storage, issue, material processing center, and special functions. This is an indefinite deliver, indefinite quantity five-year contract with a two-year base period and three one-year option periods; performance completion date is Nov. 30, 2010. The DDC New Cumberland, PA issued the contract (SP3100-06-D-0001) after proposals were solicited via FedBiz Opps, and 10 firms responded.
