Lockheed Martin has been selected by The Boeing Company as the preferred supplier of advanced electro-optical sensor suites for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-15SG Strike Eagles. The five-year, fixed-price contract will include the sensor suites, spares, training, technical publications and complete logistics support. Deliveries will begin the second quarter of 2007, and the value of the contract award is undisclosed.
The advanced electro-optical sensor suite features a high-resolution, mid-wave, third-generation FLIR; a dual-mode laser; a charge-coupled device television; a laser spot tracker; a laser marker; a terrain following radar; and an IRST system. In more specific terms, the sensor suite includes Sniper/Pantera Advanced Targeting Pods, Tiger Eyes forward-looking infrared systems for targeting and navigation, and an Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for passive air-to-air detection.
Clark Construction Group L.L.C. in Tampa, FL received a $116.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a new sensitive compartmental information facility at MacDill Air Force Base, FL. Work is expected to be complete by May 2008. There were 425 bids solicited on Jan. 10, 2006, and 4 bids were received by the Army Engineer District in Mobile, AL (W91278-06-C-0028).
MacDill AFB became home to the 6th Air Base Wing in 1994 with a primary mission of operating the base in support of large number of tenant and transient units including US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
The Boeing Company has received a 9-year, $180 million contract to upgrade the AN/APQ-164 fire control radar on the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of 67 B-1B long-range bomber aircraft under a Reliability and Maintainability Improvement Program (RMIP). Most of the RMIP kit will come from subcontractor Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Baltimore, MD. It comprises a new radar transmitter/receiver, a radar processor computer and a translated [DID: from its original programming language], rehosted software package.
DRS Technologies, Inc. in Parsippany, NJ received a $26 million subcontract from Raytheon Company’s Network Centric Systems business in McKinney, TX, to provide major subsystems for the U.S. Army’s Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3). The contract was awarded to DRS byexas. Work will be performed by the company’s DRS Optronics unit in Palm Bay, FL, and product deliveries are expected to continue through December. DRS has booked more than $142 million in orders on the LRAS3 program, including the latest award.
So, what is LRAS3, and how has it been used in combat?
US Air Force Special Operations command (AFSOC) will be testing 8 items for possible use by U.S. forces during Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment (JEFX ’06). One set is called SWIPE, an umbrella term for a package that includes the special operations tactical network via Windows-based software and secure wireless networks, the remote sensor-iridium, the geographic suitability assessment tool and the command and control mission manager. Functions include “daisy chaining” information over the wireless tactical network; whiteboarding incl. shared data, images, et. al.; satellite communications via the low-bandwidth Iridium system, and computer-based information packages that are relevant to the area they’re in. Mission planners can work off-line, and later upload their requests to coordinating authorities as needed.
JEFX is supposed to test these and other components, to see whether they prove useful or overly cumbersome for special operations teams in the combat simulations. If the items pass the tests, they’ll be integrated into the active force. See article for more.
UPDATE: See this USAF article for details regarding 2 more initiatives – TBONE & BACN. TBONE is a theater battle mansagement system. BACN is an airborne communications relay and information server that flies at near-space altitudes, giving it a wide transmission footprint that can reach remote areas.
