$408M Over 10 Years to Lockheed for Satellite & Space Services

Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solution in Santa Maria, CA received a ten-year, $408 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract. The contract covers follow-on engineering and operation services for the engineering, development, and sustainment of satellite operation complexes at Schriever Air Force Base, CO and Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, and will provide space range systems services at Camp Parks Communication Annex in Dublin, CA and deployed locations around the world.

This contract’s basic ordering period is four years and ten months, with five one-year options. The Air Force can issue delivery orders totaling up to the maximum amount, although the actual requirement may be less than that. Solicitation began September 2005; 24 firms were solicited and 3 firms submitted proposals. Negotiations were complete March 2006 by the Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA. (FA8818-06-D-0024-0001)

$126.3M Adds 500 more M113A3 Family Vehicle Upgrades

M1064

The Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI recently issued a pair of contracts connected with upgrading the USA’s M113 fleet to M113A3 status. The U.S. Army will upgrade up to 500 M113 family vehicles to the latest A3 configuration, adding 73 more M577A3 Command Post Carriers, 66 more M1064A3 Mortar Carriers and 361 more M1068A3 Standard Integrated Command Post (SICPS) Carriers to BAE Systems’ current contract to produce 356 upgraded vehicles.

An earlier DID article offered background information regarding each of these systems. Recent contracts connected with this effort include:

Hello, Moto: $76M for Intra Squad Radios

Goodbye, Moto…

The US Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, VA awarded Motorola in Columbia, MD a $76 million firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery /indefinite-quantity contract for 60,000 Integrated Intra Squad Radios (IISR) and associated items.

As National Defense Magazine’s September 2005 issue notes, the Corps realized it lacked small squad-level communications for urban operations after the invasion of Iraq. Marines liked the British Army’s “personal role radio” and bought 10,000 Selex PRRs from Britain’s war reserve. The PRR is a small transmitter-receiver similar to civilian two-way radios, which allows infantry soldiers to communicate over short distances. Meanwhile, some soldiers and Marines were buying related civilian systems like Motorola’s TalkAbout series – something that should have been anticipated after the USMC’s “Urban Warrior 98” exercise [PDF]. The Corps belatedly made procurement a priority, but wanted a longer range than the PRR’s 500 meters and more secure encryption.

Hence the current IISR award. Work will be performed in Schaumburg, IL and is expected to be complete by April 2011. This contract was competitively procured through full and open competition using the Navy Electronic Commerce and federal business opportunities websites, with four offers received (M67854-06-D-7022).

$6.9M to Boeing to Operate UAVs from LPD 14 USS Trenton

LPD 14, docking

The Boeing Co. in St. Louis, MO is being awarded a not-to-exceed $6.9 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-05-C-0045) to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle services for the USS Trenton (LPD 14) amphibious support vessel, as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terror. Work will be performed in St. Louis, MO and is expected to be completed in October 2006. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.

Based on similar past awards under this very same contract, the UAV in question is almost certainly the ScanEagle, which was originally created to help tuna fishman find tuna schools and monitor dolphins. Its autonomous operation and long loiter times have made it an exceptionally valuable asset in the Global War on Terror.

UPDATE: Negotiations to transfer the Austin Class LPD (Landing Platform, Dock) ship USS Trenton to India after its tour are heading toward their final stages. The Trenton can carry up to 1,500 troops, or land large amounts of relief supplies in the event of a tsunami-like disaster. Colton Company’s US shipbuilder databases note that Trenton was delivered to the US Navy in 1971.

$114.1M to Upgrade BMEWS Thule

BMEWS radar, Thule

The Missile Defense Agency awarded Raytheon Co., of Woburn, MA a cost-plus-award-fee letter contract. This contract is to upgrade the early warning radar at Thule Air Base, Greenland. Thule is part of BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System). The not-to-exceed award value for this effort is $114.1 million, covering April 2006 – September 2010. The principal place of performance will be at the Raytheon Co. in Woburn, MA, but work will also be performed at Thule Air Base, Greenland (HQ0006-06-C-0012).

A corporate release notes that Raytheon IDS will integrate new electronics, computer hardware and mission software to upgrade the existing two-faced, phased array antenna facility at the remote site. Raytheon will also support integrated tests of the upgraded radar, performing both missile defense and legacy missions. The Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) program upgrades existing PAVE PAWS and Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radars by adding missile defense capabilities while retaining legacy missile warning and space surveillance missions. A key sensor for the MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), UEWR is designed to provide midcourse target detection and tracking for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense portion of the BMDS to protect the U.S. from ballistic missile attacks.

RUAG Wins 5-Year Dutch Army Ammo Order

RUAG Ammotec, a subsidiary of the RUAG technology group following the merger of RUAG Munition of Switzerland and Dynamit Nobel AmmoTec of Germany, announced that they will be manufacturing ammunition worth up to CHF 80 million ($61.5 million at current conversion) for the Dutch army over the next five years. RUAG is already supplying the Dutch police and army, and the company’s facility in Thun manufactures a comprehensive range of 5.56mm ammunition for the Dutch armed forces. RUAG Ammotec .223/ 5.56 x 45 ammunition is also in service with the armies of Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Singapore, among others.

This new order is the biggest single order in RUAG Ammotec’s history, and will secure 35 jobs for a period of 5 years and will help to stabilize the fall in volume in other areas. Like Nordic ammunition manufacturer Nammo, RUAG has particular specialties in sniper rounds and ‘Green Ammo’ that uses non-toxic, lead-free solid bullets. They also market a bullet designed to shoot through glass without being deflected.