Vinghog AS in Tonsberg, Norway received an $8.4 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for an Improved Crew Served Weapons Mount (ICSWM) for the MK47 “Striker” Advanced Lightweight 40mm Grenade Launcher (ALGL). Vinghog’s ICSW Mount, with adapters, will also be used with other fielded machine guns such as the M2 .50 caliber and M240 7.62mm. It is envisioned that the ICSWM will improve accuracy when firing on the move.
This project will evaluate a soft-mount for Special Operations Forces (SOF) crew served weapons such as the MK47 MOD 0 ALGL and machine guns. The ICSWM mount program will test the soft-mount technology to verify that it does improve the performance of the MK47 Weapon System in accordance with objective joint Operational Requirements Document. Work will be performed in Tonsberg, Norway, and is expected to be complete by November 2011. All funding will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured and advertised on the Internet, with 1 offer received by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-07-D-4883).
Elbit Systems Ltd. subsidiary Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop Ltd. has announced a $19 million contract for Thermal Imaging kits for the Gunner Periscope Sights of the Korean K1A1 tank.
Primary contractor Samsung-Thales will supply, install and test the systems, while Elop will provide the main components for the thermal sensors. The Integrated Sights modular design combines direct view observation, TV channels, eyesafe laser rangefinders and a wide variety of night vision technologies with line-of-sight stabilization and hunter-killer solutions. See Elbit release [PDF]
General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, MI received a delivery order amount of $19.8 million as part of a $48.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for loader’s thermal weapon sights for the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams Tanks. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, MI and is expected to be complete by May 30, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 19, 2006 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
On Wednesday, “Australia Embarking on Defense Industrial Strategy” covered Defence Minister Nelson’s November 24 speech and accompanying initiative. It probably isn’t coincidence that Australia’s DoD put out a release on November 27 titled “GE Partnership With Thales Australia Produces $300 Million In Export Sales.” It usually means someone is trying to make a point through example, a reasonable supposition given the correlation between the situation described and the Minister’s 7 priorities.
The relevant background is that GE has developed an ongoing relationship with Thales Australia involving the production of GE LM2500 gas turbine engine housing modules and kits…
The Project on Government Oversight NGO notes a recent rise in the number of “high visibility issues” related to Sikorsky helicopters and parts, according to Sikorsky internal documents archived at POGO. These include parts malfunctions, and news station WTNH is also covering the issue.
POGO’s sense of the cause behind this phenomenon is more speculative, and centers around a redeployment of quality inspectors within Sikorsky. Other explanations are certainly possible, and DID would welcome a submission from Sikorsky that elected to discuss this 9-month trend in more depth and address these variances.
EMC2 Corp. in McLean, VA received a delivery order amount of $34.5 million as part of a $44 million firm-fixed-price contract for continued support and service for the EMC Clariion and Centera content-addressed Storage Systems and Software.
Work seems to encompass a lot of weapons and systems testing areas, and will be performed in White Sands, NM (20.5%), Dugway, UT (18.2%), Huntsville, AL (11.4%), Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (2.3%), Yuma, AR (6.8%), Alexandria, VA (2.3%), Eglin, FL (9.1%), Fairfax, VA (13.6%), Keyport, WA (11.4%), Ridgecrest, CA (2.3%), and Patuxent River, MD (2.3%), and is expected to be complete by March 31, 2009. This was a sole source contract initiated on June 14, 2006 by the U.S. Army Contracting Agency at White Sands Missile Range, NM (W9124Q-04-D-0006).
The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has signed a 7-year naval maintenance contract worth more than A$ 50 million (about US$ 39 million), with an option for an addditional 5 years. The Amphibious and Afloat Support Integrated Materiel Support (AAS IMS) agreement covers 4 Royal Australian Navy amphibious and afloat support ships: The 18,000t AOR HMAS Success, the 9,000t LPA ships HMAS Kanimbla and Manoora, and the 6,000t LSL HMAS Tobruk.
The team, composed of Rolls-Royce and Halliburton subsidiary KBR, will work in partnership with Australia’s DoD to reduce DoD ship costs through improved logistics management, total ship maintenance, faster response to day-to-day engineering issues and managing equipment obsolescence. The AAS IMS team will be based at DoD premises at Garden Island and Defence Plaza in Sydney, Australia. Rolls Royce release.
