“The Coast Guard’s March 14, 2007 statement RE: FRC-B’s removal from Integrated Coast Guard Systems’ purview was careful to note that “…this decision pertains only to the acquisition of patrol boats and does not impact ongoing negotiations with ICGS for other work to be done in the second performance period of the Deepwater contract, beginning June 2007.” Nevertheless, the Blueprint for Acquisition Reform that Adm. Allen discussed with Congress on February 8, 2007 definitely lays the groundwork for further shifts if performance does not improve…The one essential truth behind all of these maneuvers is the US Coast Guard’s serious and growing need to replace worn equipment. All else is ultimately variable; the Coast Guard must and will do whatever it takes to secure the confidence and funding it needs, in order to address that underlying truth.”
That assessment appears to be borne out by the April 17, 2007 announcement that the US Coast Guard is taking over the lead integrator role for the entire Deepwater suite of acquisitions. Admiral Thad Allen:
Most short range air-air missiles (SRAAMs), and even some medium-range missiles like the French MICA and Russian AA-10/R-27 variants use some variant of infrared guidance, homing in on heat differentials produced by a target’s exhaust or even just air friction against its surface. The IR sensors are mounted in the nose of the missile, and if you look closely you’ll see that they’re behind a transparent “dome.” Creating those domes is a challenging materials task: give us something that lets as much IR radiation as possible in without distortion, but protects everything inside the missile from the buffeting and heat created during the missile’s own Mach 3+ flight and violent turns.
Raytheon Co. in Tewksbury, MA just received a $7.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for building engineered nano-composite oxides for high durability missile domes. The objective is to develop processing methods for the manufacture of IR transport domes capable of higher speed operation and greater particle impact resistance than sapphire, the current material choice.
This contract contains options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $14.4 million. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, MA, and is expected to be complete by October 2008. Contract funds in the amount of $3.9 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with 2 offers received. The Office of Naval Research in Arlington, VA (N00014-07-C-00037).
Special Applications Group, LLC in Tampa, FL received a maximum $150 million firm-fixed price and cost indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract. In return, they will provide technical, engineering, logistics, and program management services in support of United States Special Operations Command’s (US SOCOM) Special Operations Aviation Training company, Technology Applications program office, and Systems Integration and Maintenance office. Work will primarily be performed at Fort Campbell, KY, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2011 (H92241-070C-0008).
