Force Protection, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement with General Dynamics Land Systems to partner in the production of its Cougar medium mine-resistant vehicle, which is becoming the de facto multinational standard in the Iraqi theater of operations. The agreement took effect on November 11, 2006, and marks the first vendor arrangement between the companies.
Force Protection will be prime contractor under the agreement, with General Dynamics as subcontractor, using available production capacity at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, OH to perform structure fabrication of the vehicle. The 50/50 joint venture partnership will be called Force Dynamics.
DID has covered international airlift contracts from the US government, and we’ve also covered the Defense Logistics Agency’s Surface Small Package Program. What about stuff that’s somewhere in-between? United States Transportation Command at Scott AFB, IL has just issued a set of 6 contracts for International heavyweight express package delivery worth up to $202.5 million – and the winner are names we can recognize from previous contracts at both ends of the spectrum.
All of these announcements are fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts which will be funded by individual ordering offices by government bills of lading, commercial bills of lading, and/or government credit card. Work will be performed world wide and is expected to be complete September 30, 2007. The solicitation was advertised on Federal Business Opportunities unrestricted, and 7 proposals were received. Winners included:
ASTAR Air Cargo, Inc. in Miami, FL: $29.5 million ( HTC711-07-D-0001)
Murray Air, Inc. of Ypsilanti in Miami, FL: $32.1 million (HTC711-07-D-0002)
Federal Express Corporation in Washington, DC: $33.2 million (HTC711-07-D-0003)
United Parcel Service, Inc. in Louisville, KY: $47.1 million (HTC711-07-D-0004)
Miami Air International, Inc. in Miami, FL: $30.1 million (HTC711-07-D-0005)
Delta Airlines in Atlanta, GA: $30 million (HTC711-07-D-0006)
This one has been making the email rounds lately, and we thought our readers would enjoy it. Sukhoi refers to this plane as the “The SU-35 Single-Seat Multi-Role Super-Maneuverable Fighter“; it’s a major upgrade to the SU-27 Flanker that includes new radar and avionics, thrust-vectoring engines, et. al. Production has been very limited, owing to the near-halt in Russia’s major aircraft programs due to limited funds. Nevertheless, exports remain a possibility and there have been rumors that Russia is looking at a renewal of its air force beginning around 2010. There has been some doubt concerning the aircraft’s exact configuration, but the MAKS 2007 air show appears to offer a settled design – see DID’s Sidebar “Which SU-35?” for more.
The video takes you through the SU-35’s key upgrades over the earlier SU-27 and its weapon fits, then includes a number of “mission scenes” which are laughably unrealistic but still somewhat illustrative of the SU-35’s equipment and uses. The labels are all in Russian, but aviation buffs will be able to recognize most of the items in it from context and background knowledge. Hokey, yes, but lots of fun.
