Reader Guy Cramer of Hyperstealth sends in this tidbit from Jordan, where his company is working on a series of camouflage initiatives from Jordan’s armed forces. Jordan News quotes the Israeli Yediot Aharonot newspaper to say that that RAFAEL signed a $28 million deal to sell its Typhoon naval weapons system to the US Navy. Like CROWS, the Typhoon is operated via screen and joystick, and is a self-contained, stabilized, unmanned weapons turret. It comes in different sizes; Typhoon and Mini-Typhoon systems can be fitted with machine guns, autocannon, and/or grenade launchers from 5.56mm to 40mm, and can even add anti-armor or air defense missiles. They are in use in a number of countries, including the Israeli Navy’s recently-covered Super Dvoras and Australia’s new Armidale Class patrol boats/corvettes.
Super Dvora III w. Typhoon
It will be interesting to see where the US Navy plans to deploy its new Typhoon weapons systems. A recent DID article covering its reborn Coastal Warfare Squadrons noted the contrast between the manned, unshielded, pintle-mounted 7.62mm machine guns on the small SeaARK vessels assigned to take on river patrols and terrorist fast attack boats, vs. the other navies who used stabilized, remotely-operated systems like the Israeli Typhoon to provide safer and more accurate firepower overmatch.
O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Co. in Fairfield, OH received a $31.5 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for up-armored high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles for the Iraqi Armed Forces. Work will be performed in Fairfield, OH and is expected to be complete by July 31, 2006. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 10, 2000 by the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (DAAE07-00-C-S019).
DID recently covered Lockheed’s High Altitude Airship military blimp and the related ISIS project. HAA/ISIS could put incredibly powerful battlefield ground surveillance and aerial surveillance radars on unmanned solar-powered blimps, which would stay aloft at 65,000 feet for up to a month. DID also noted the importance of Akron’s huge (1,175 x 325 x 211 feet), historic Airdock as the project’s location.
NBC reports that a large explosion and fire occurred yesterday at the airdock (Thursday, May 18, 2006), with smoke and flames pouring out of the hangar and bringing between 15 and 20 Akron fire companies to the scene…
As part of a $500 million effort to support the Pentagon’s $120 billion supply chain using RFID, small business qualifier ODIN Technologies in Dulles, VA won a maximum $7 million combination firm-fixed-price, cost, and time-and-materials contract for passive radio frequency identification portals, hardware, and installation for Defense Logistics Agency.
Work will be performed in Dulles, VA, as well as Defense Distribution centers, and other locations inside and outsidethe continental United States (CONUS). Proposals were Web-solicited and 11 responded. Date of performance completion is May 16, 2007, and the contract was issued by the Defense Distribution Center (DDC) in New Cumberland, PA (SP3100-06-D-0003).
