USA Orders 10,000 JDAMs for $240M

JDAM family

Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp in St Louis, MO received a $240 million firm-fixed-price with cost-reimbursement type for alternate disputes resolution contract for 10,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Lot 10 Guided Vehicle (GV) kits. The JDAM is a strap-on kit that turns existing 500, 1000 and 2000-pound bombs into precision weapons with Inertial Navigation System (INS)/Global Positioning Systems (GPS) capability. Its cheap cost (under $25,000 per) and effectiveness have made it both a transformational weapons system and a major project success story; future upgrades include the addition of a laser sensor for even finer target correction and the ability to hit moving objects.

Solicitations began in November 2005, negotiations were complete in March 2006, and work will be complete March 2008. The Headquarters Air to Ground Munitions Systems Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, FL issued the contract (FA8681-06-C-0058).

USAF Detachment 8 Continues US Research Into EMP-Microwave Weapons

HPM E-Bomb concept

Detachment 8 Air Force Research Laboratory/PKDP at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM is researching new opportunities in all aspects of high-power electromagnetic weaponry. Their research supports missions such as survivability of U.S. Department of Defense equipment against high-power microwave emissions, the development of high-power microwave (HPM) weapons, and the refinement of high-power microwave-predictive modeling for inclusion into engagement and campaign-level models.

HPM actually encompasses a variety of devices. HERF (High Energy Radio Frequency) and EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) “electronics killer e-bombs” effects are HPM weapons, and this field has received the bulk for research dollars. So too, however, is “Project Sheriff,” also known as the “pain ray” that does no significant damage to its human target other than causing pain. Other nations believed to be conducting research in the area of HPM weapons generally include China, Great Britain and France.

The Air Force is awarding a $24 million to be split among these eight companies. DID lists the companies involved in the current contract, and also notes previous contracts along similar lines that extend back to 1994:

Global Fleet Sales Delivering Trucks for Afghan National Police

New Afghan police

Small business qualifier Global Fleet Sales Inc. in Anderson, IN received an $8.6 million increment as part of a $17.2 million firm-fixed-price contract for Afghan National Police trucks. Work will be performed in Bangkok, Thailand, and is expected to be complete by July 31, 2006. This was a sole source contract initiated on Feb. 9, 2006 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-06-C-T002).

The picture above shows a formation of Afghan National Police with ballistic vests donated through the efforts of the 501c3 organization Spirit of America; an ongoing project led by Captain John Skipper of the Redondo Beach, CA Police Department. DID thanks Spirit of America for allowing us to use this photo.

$9.9M to Complete Heat Protection Research for Hypersonic Vehicles

Falcon HTV Concept

University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, OH received a $9.9 million cost plus fixed fee contract. Solicitations began in December 2005, and negotiations were complete in February 2006. The Headquarters Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, issued the contract (FA8650-06-C-7615). As the DefenseLINK release notes:

“The Air Vehicles directorate has for several years conducted focused research on high temperature thermal protection systems that support high-speed air vehicles. The primary application of this technology is to un-powered hypersonic technology vehicles such as those being developed in the DARPA/AFSPC Falcon Program. However, this technology has many other applications to high-speed air, re-entry and space access vehicles. Ongoing research into these thermal protection systems is approximately half complete; this effort will carry the research through to completion over the next five years.”

USA Spending $7.1M to Upgrade SEAL Delivery Vehicles

SEAL Delivery Vehicle

Because of the problems faced by the USA’s ASDS special forces mini-sub program, the need arose to extend and upgrade existing “wet delivery” SEAL Delivery Vehicles (SDV). Now Sonatech Inc in Santa Barbara, CA has received a $7.1 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract to provide for life-cycle maintenance, spare parts and new obstacle avoidance sonar fabrication support of SDV. Sonatech will furnish five Obstacle Avoidance Sonar (OAS) systems, along with diagnostic evaluation, repair and upgrade, OAS spares, field support, and obsolescence studies.

Work will be performed in Santa Barbara, CA (98%) and various government sites (2%), and is expected to be complete by March 2011. This contract was a sole source effort issued by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division in Panama City, FL.

Up to $9.8M for Maintenance of T-AFS 9 USNS Spica

T-AFS 9 USNS Spica

Detyens Shipyard, Inc. in Charleston, SC received a $7.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for ship repair, overhaul and drydock of US Military Sealift Command’s Mars Class combat stores ship USNS Spica (T-AFS 9). This contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $9.8 million. Work will be performed in Charleston, SC and is expected to be complete by July 2006. This contract was competitively procured with eight proposals solicited and three offers received by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Fleet Support Command in Virginia Beach, VA (N62381-06-C-2002).

The USNS Spica’s primary mission is to provide underway replenishment and/or vertical replenishment to Navy ships at sea, and the role of T-AFS ships within the US Navy’s concept of operations was covered in more depth in DID’s in-depth T-AKE ships anchor article.