Small business qualifier Force Protection Industries, Inc. in Ladson, SC received a $481.4 million firm-fixed-priced delivery order (#0003) under previously-awarded contract #M67854-07-D-5031 for additional Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles. The order covers 1,000 of the firm’s Cougar vehicles: 300 of the 31,000 pound curb weight 4x4s in MRAP Category 1 (MRAP-MRUV), and 700 of the 38,000 pound curb weight 6-wheeled Cougars in MRAP Category 2 (MRAP-JERRV).
According to Force Protection, manufacturing will be performed by Force Protection in Ladson, SC and partners Spartan Chassis in Charlotte, MI (see May 11/07 release re: $107.6 million subcontracts); Armor Holdings in Sealy, TX – and by General Dynamics Land Systems in Lima, OH, under their 50/50 joint venture negotiated with Force Protection. See GD release re: their $245 million sub-contract. Kings Point, NC is also listed as a work location, and production is expected to be complete by May 2008. This contract was competitively procured, and Force Protection is one of 9 vendors authorized under MRAP. The Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA has issued a release that says that the order “resulted from FPII’s rapid delivery of test vehicles and successful verification of survivability and automotive performance.” The Cougars have successfully passed testing phase 1 (of 3), and testing of the various vehicle designs continues at Aberdeen.
Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ received a $59.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-07-C-0008), exercising an option for the Lot 7 production of AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-air missiles (SRAAMs).
The order includes both battle-ready missiles and Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs), which have a full seeker head to help keep score but leave out the rocket motor and warhead. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contracts, and customers include:
Ionatron in Tucson, AZ received a $9.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to fund the development of an advanced Ultra Short (femtosecond – 10^-15)Pulse Laser, physics modeling and experiments related to laser guided energy effects (i.e. Laser Induced Plasma Channel) requirements, a transportable demonstrator, and effects testing. This contract was not competitively procured by the energetics specialists at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN (N00164-07-C-8901). See also Ionatron release.
Ionatron has done previous work on an IED land mine neutralized called the JIN, as well as nonlethal and lethal short-range energy weapons based on its technology. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (95%); Los Alamos, NM (3%); and Urbana, IL (2%), and is expected to be complete by April 2009. The contract includes technical development support from Los Alamos National Laboratories in Los Alamos, NM; and the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana, IL. Ionatron also has a strategic development agreement with DRS.
PAR Government Systems Corp. in Rome, NY received a $9.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Rapid Robust Sensor development and deployment. This effort is to perform research and analysis on the technological advancements in Special Mission sensors for unmanned airborne and unattended surveillance systems development, testing, deployment and support. Work will be performed in Rome, NY (60%); Patuxent River, MD (10%); and various overseas government locations (30%), and is expected to be complete in December 2011. This contract was competitively procured via a Broad Agency Announcement with 3 offers received by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, NJ (N68335-07-C-0239).
PAR’s strengths include geospatial applications, supports the development and testing of Electro-Optical (EO), Infrared (IR), and multi/hyperspectral sensor systems for a broad range of Government and industry applications including difficult problems such as camouflage detection; buried mine, minefield, and obstacle detection; and combining data from multiple sensors.
