Ronco Consulting Corp. in Washington, DC received a $16.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for de-mining and unexploded explosive ordnance removal in Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, and is expected to be complete by March 28, 2008. There were 414 bids solicited on Feb. 25, 2007, and 2 bids were received (popular job, evidently). The Joint Contracting Command – Iraq/Afghanistan in Baghdad, Iraq issued the contracts (W91B4N-07-F-0028).
Since 1981, Ronco Consulting has worked extensively on more than 300 development projects, and over 200 mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), and security projects around the world. The firm is currently operational in Afghanistan (including both aid work and work in “the scariest place I had ever seen”), Sudan, Eritrea, Iraq, Lebanon, Mozambique, Sri Lanka – and even stateside in the USA. By most accounts, however, Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world; a souvenir from the Soviet era.
Ronco Consulting is hiring, but be aware that they’re a “drug-free workplace.” Damn, we sure would hope so.
John C. Grimberg, Co., Inc. in Rockville, MD received a $10.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of the Agile Chemical Facility at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head, MD. Work will be performed in Indian Head, MD and is expected to be complete by October 2008. This contract was competitively procured, with 2 proposals received by the Naval Engineering Command in Washington, DC (N40080-07-C-0161).
Indian Head’s specialty is “energetics” – if if it propels something or blows up, they’re the people to call. This includes IED land mine research. Unsurprisingly, work to be performed for this contract provides for the construction of a facility to manufacture nitrate eaters, new buildings (including a control building for remote process operation), tanks, containment structures, and other supporting equipment and facilities, stairways, platforms and electrically conductive floors. The contractor will also upgrade storage and delivery facilities for chemicals and raw materials; product handling and transfer facilities; a wastewater treatment system; and a spent acid processing system. This project will include the demolition of 5 substandard building at the existing manufacturing plant. Wonder if the guys working at Indian Head will get to help…
Kollsman, Inc. in Merrimak, NH won a $97.6 million long term indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for test, teardown, analysis, and repair/ modification of various Night Targeting System (NTS), Weapon Repairable Assemblies (WRAs), and System Repairable Assemblies (SRAs) in support of the Marine Corps’ AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter. Work will be performed in Merrimack, NH and is expected to be complete by March 2012. This contract was competitively procured, with 2 proposals solicited for this limited competition requirement and 2 offers received by the Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-07-D-001N).
The first AH-1W prototype flight took place Nov. 16, 1983 at Bell Plant Six, located at the Arlington, Texas municipal airport. After gaining approval for production, Bell followed the prototype with 195 AH-1Ws. The last AH-1W helicopter was delivered in July 1998. It will be replaced by the upgraded, four-bladed AH-1Z Viper.
While there are some contracts issued throughout the year, the US military typically issues large sets of contracts over concentrated periods. In March 2006, for instance, DID covered over $3 billion in contracts issued within a week. A September 2005 flurry was over $1.5 billion worth, while 2 articles’ [1 | 2] worth of contracts in March 2005 amounted to over $2.5 billion. The Defense Energy Support Center estimates that the US military paid more than $10 billion for over 130 million barrels of fuel in 2006, compared to $6.7 billion for 144.8 million barrels in 2004. No wonder energy conservation is on the Pentagon’s agenda, field commanders are asking for portable renewable power, DARPA is researching alternative fuels for B-52 bombers, et. al.
It would appear to be that time of year again. Here are all of the fuel contracts for March 2007, along with descriptions of key fuel types and explanations of the contract language. The final tally was $4,199,518,242 – plus any economic price adjustments later, a term we explain below…
