by Joe Katzman | Jun 2, 2006 | C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Domestic Security, L3 Communications, Other Equipment - Land, USA
Sentinel C4I van L-3 Communications subsidiary Wolf Coach Inc. in Auburn, MA received an $8.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for special vehicles to support homeland security. Wolf Coach specializes in mobile communications vehicles, and their web site outlines the...
by Joe Katzman | Jun 1, 2006 | Budgets, FOCUS Articles, Forces - Naval, Industry & Trends, Issues - Political, Official Reports, Policy - Procurement, Submarines, Surface Ships - Combat, Surface Ships - Other, T&C - RAND Corp., USA
Earlier DID articles have covered the issue of increasing US shipbuilding costs from various points of view – see esp. “Costing the CVN-21: A DID Primer” and “RAND: UK Offers Shipbuilding Industry Lessons for USA.” Now RAND turns its...
by Joe Katzman | Jun 1, 2006 | Budgets, Forces - Marines, Helicopters & Rotary, Issues - Political, Lobbying, Other Corporation, Project Failures, Project Methodologies, USA
UH-1Y(click to view full) It seemed fairly straightforward: update a pair of old USMC standbys, creating a transport (UH-1Y Venom) and attack helicopter (AH-1Z Viper) backbone with maximum commonality. It has not worked out that way. The H-1 program has required...
by Joe Katzman | Jun 1, 2006 | Contracts - Awards, Design Innovations, Field Innovations, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Procurement Innovations, Project Successes, Robots, Support & Maintenance, USA
MARCbot(click to view alternate) Based upon the first Exponent robots sent to Afghanistan in 2002, the first improved MARCbot IIs for IED sweeps were initially sent to Iraq in May 2004. They weren’t fully ready for combat, but they were useful in much the same...
by Joe Katzman | Jun 1, 2006 | Contracts - Awards, Robots, Small Business, Support & Maintenance, USA
iRobot Packbot The MTRS program has made hundreds of robots available in Iraq and Afghanistan for use investigating and eliminating IED land mines. Small business qualifier (and Roomba robot vacuum manufacturer) iRobot Corp. in Burlington, MA received a $64.3 million...
