Shaw-Dick Pacific, LLC in Honolulu, HI received a $176 million (first increment) firm-fixed-price contract for construction of the Hawaii Regional Security Operations Center, at Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific. Work will be performed at Wahiawa, HI, and is expected to be complete by June 2010. This contract was competitively procured with 38 proposals solicited and 2 offers received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific in Pearl Harbor, HI (N62742-07-C-1329).
An additional $144 million will be funded upon the passage of FY 2008 Military Construction Appropriation Bill making the total amount $320 million, with one additional $40,000 option that may be exercised within 3 months.
Impact Science & Technology (IST) in Nashua, NH, which was acquired by EDO in late 2006, received a $56.9 million firm-fixed-price, time and material (cost) contract for production and support of 1,100 electronic jammers for use on American land vehicles in Iraq & Afghanistan. The purchase is part of the Counter Radio-controlled improvised explosive device (RCIED) Electronic Warfare (CREW) program, spiral 2.1, and the devices jam the cell phone signals that are often used to remotely detonate land mines. This contract is for the urgent procurement and support of CREW systems, to be used by forces in each of the military services found in CENTCOM. The Navy manages the joint CREW program for Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Joint IED Defeat Organization.
All funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work will be performed Nashua, NH (75%); Dover, NH (18%); Lowell, MS (6.8%); Huntsville, AL (0.2%); and is expected to be complete by May 2008. The contract was competitively procured with 5 offers solicited and 5 offers received by The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-07-C-6319).
Note that this contract is additive to the $88 million CREW contract award to EDO that was announced on April 6, 2007. The firm would not comment on the type of jammers to be produced – their own, or EDO’s Warlock.
In its November 2006 briefing “Modularity, the Littoral Combat Ship and the Future of The United States Navy” [PDF format]. Washington think-tank The Lexington Institute offered an in-depth look at the LCS as the Navy’s most transformational program, and the key challenges that must be overcome in order to make the LCS program successful.
One challenge was cost-growth, and it has now come firmly home to roost for Team Lockheed. DID reported the January 12, 2007 stop-work order on LCS 3, and we will continue to update this article as new developments arise. In the latest development, the Navy and Lockheed could not come to agreement – and so the contract for LCS 3 has been terminated part-way through construction. The General Dynamics/Austal team will continue with construction of LCS 2 & 4, but a warning has been issued in that direction as well…
BAE Systems Ship Repair recently received an indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contract by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) for blast, paint and preservation work on tanks of nuclear submarines home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. This 5-year contract includes a base year plus 4 one-year options, and presents the opportunity to bid on portions of a work package estimated at $149 million. While BAE has mobile teams on the East and West Coasts and in Hawaii, all work on this contract will take place in Norfolk, VA.
In addition to its non-nuclear ship repair capabilities, BAE Systems provides key hull preservation services to the nuclear submarine force and specializes in corrosion control and habitability work for U.S. Navy ships. BAE Systems release.
Well-known truck manufacturer Freightliner LLC in Portland, OR recently received a delivery order amount of $12.4 million as part of a $551.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for M915A3 Semis, M916A3 Light Equipment Transporters, and M915 Flatbed Trucks. Work will be performed in Portland, OR and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 2008. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on April 21, 2000, and 2 bids were received by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (DAAE07-00-D-S022).
This would appear to be the final delivery order; other Freightliner delivery orders were announced under this contract, whose number and negotiated date remain the same as the final amount changes: Sept 8/2000 ($34.1M order/ $389M), Nov 6/06 ($127.4M order/ $506.1M), and Nov 27/06 ($28.8M order/ $534.9M).
Small business qualifier Special T Hosiery Mills, Inc. in Burlington, NC received a maximum $7.1 million firm fixed price contract for antimicrobial boot socks. Using services are the US Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. There were 25 proposals solicited, and 16 responded. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) in Philadelphia, PA issued the contract, and the date of performance completion is April 7, 2009 (SP0100-05-D-0386).
The US Department of Commerce has an interesting report assessing the industrial base, and covering US military textile procurement from 1997-2002. Special T Hosiery lists as the contracts leader in its category (“Hosiery, Handwear, Clothing Accy”).
The military is by nature a conservative community. Given the cost in lives inherent in betting on the wrong new trend, this should hardly be surprising. Sometimes, that traditionalist streak gets in the way of progress, as was the case with radical ideas like the aircraft carrier. Sometimes, the skepticism is justified. Defense News looks at the $3+ billion per ship DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class, which is likely to serve as a design template for future cruiser classes (CG-X, 19 ships from 2011) and possibly even a frigate class (FFG-X, featured in CBO reports but no firm plans), asking: “Is New U.S. Destroyer Unstable?” Are the critics prisoners of their preconceptions re: what ships are “supposed” to look like, or sounding an early alarm before a very expensive ship and its crew are lost to Mother Nature rather than enemy fire? Defense News:
“Nothing like the Zumwalt has ever been built. The 14,500-ton ship’s flat, inward-sloping sides and superstructure rise in pyramidal fashion in a form called tumblehome. Its long, angular “wave-piercing” bow lacks the rising, flared profile of most ships, and is intended to slice through waves as much as ride over them…”
“At least eight current and former officers, naval engineers and architects and naval analysts interviewed for this article expressed concerns about the ship’s stability. Ken Brower, a civilian naval architect with decades of naval experience was even more blunt: “It will capsize in a following sea at the wrong speed if a wave at an appropriate wavelength hits it at an appropriate angle”… “
Finmeccanica subsidiary OTO Melara recently announced [PDF format] a EUR 80 million (currently about $108 million) pair of orders for naval gun systems to be mounted on Germany’s F125 frigates, where they will be integrated with EADS FuWES command & fire control systems. The final contracts are expected to be signed in the third quarter of the year, subject to the approval of the F125 program by the German parliament.
The first contract worth EUR 70 million is for the supply of five 127/54 LW (Light Weight) gun systems: 4 for the ARGE F125 consortium’s F125 frigates, and one (1) for training. Note the difference between this gun and the 57mm weapon that will arm the frigate-sized US Littoral Combat Ship. See Naval Armament: The MCG Problem for an examination of the different conceptions at work here. The Germans had originally looked at mounting their MONARC 155mm howitzer on the F125s, but this order appears to mark the definitive end of those plans.
12.7mm Hitrole NT (click to view larger)
Germany has also selected the remote-controlled Hitrole(R) 12.7mm remote-control turret in the new Naval Tilting (NT) version. OTO Melara will provide a total of 25 12.7mm Hitrole NT systems under the ER 10 million contract: 5 on board each of the 4 frigates (TL = 20) and 5 on land for training purposes. The Hitrole RWS is currently serving with the Italian finance police and the UAE and Mexican navies, among others.
“When the ACU was first introduced, I was a big fan. Having lived and worked in the uniform for over in year in various field environments – including combat in Iraq – it is clear the goal has not yet been achieved. With a few changes, the Army can complete the process and ensure today’s Soldiers have a top-quality uniform ready to take them into combat.” — Eric Coulson, US Army officer, Iraq
“USA Contracts for New Army Combat Uniforms in ACUPAT Camo” discussed the new features of the US Army’s combat uniform, and chronicles the contracts issued. In “New Army Uniform Doesn’t Measure Up,” Coulson’s review identifies a number of weak points (velcro, durability, propensity to hold dirt, fire protection, camo pattern), and suggests a number of key modifications required, including:
A new pattern – like the “multicam” pattern being tested for Land Warrior.
New material – Use Nomex or some other fire-retardant material instead of the 50/50 cotton-nylon blend.
