Jacobs Technology Inc. in Tullahoma, TN receivedd a 3-year, $480 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to procure engineering and technical advisory and assistance services for Hanscom AFB’s Electronic Systems Center “in support of various [R&D] and production activities”. The ESC has broad responsibility for buying military electronics, managing about 200 programs and administering an annual budget of more than $3 billion; they recently issued a multi-vendor 5-year, $800 million contract for acquisition support services. At this time, $5.4 million have been obligated. Solicitations began August 2006, negotiations were complete March 2007, and work will be complete May 2010.
The Headquarters Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA issued the contract (FA8721-07-D-0015). Services include but are not limited to providing a broad range of engineering acquisition support such as: engineering services, engineering support, technical support, provisioning and logistics support, modeling and simulation, configuration, and data management, architectural support, text and evaluation, security engineering and certification, capability based planning, commercial off-the-shelf integration, support, integration master plans, integration scheduling, and technical reviews.
It’s a standard business story, especially when dealing with Russians. Smaller company does deal with larger company. Larger company decides it’s convenient not to pay for services rendered. Smaller company takes larger company to court. Ah, but here’s where it gets interesting – what if the smaller company’s activities were now technically illegal?
An Austrian firm named Rite Approach Ltd. is the small company; Russian firm Kazan is the larger company, who paid the 16% commission on a deal for 16 Mi-17 helicopters to state firm Rosoboronexport instead. As IBN notes in its story “A dogfight in Indian arms bazaar“: “What’s interesting to note here is the fact that payment of undisclosed commissions is banned by India.”
Indian Mi-17s
This is true, under Defence Acquisitions Procedure 2006’s Integrity Clause. The number of scandals around the practice over the years suggests that it’s rather common, however, and this legal case is opening a very public window into its workings. This one is likely to be watched closely in India and abroad; it will probably attract more attention before it’s over.
“The negotiations with JAS Gripen and Eurofighter which commenced early January 2007 are well on track… Progress has also been made in the negotiations over development agreements with the two other candidates in the combat aircraft acquisition project, JAS Gripen and Eurofighter.”
“In terms of long term trends, it’s also worthy of note that a combination of narrowband satellites and MARTS-type communications aerostats for theater communications, wideband AEHF satellites for mission-critical high-bandwidth transfers like UAV video, encrypted communications via commercial satellite carriers, and laid fiber-optic cables for strategic communications are already appearing on the scene… Throw in the possibility of finding new ways to leverage existing systems, and this constellation definitely represents a potential “incremental competition” threat to TSAT.”
Textron sees continued strong demand for its M1117 Armored Security Vehicle. Just not as part of the MRAP program. DID has covered the M1117, which remains popular with US Military Police in theater. Based on current and pending U.S. Department of Defense budget requests, Textron Systems Corporation says it expects to deliver about 530 M1117 ASV units in 2007, and “at least as many in 2008… despite recent notification from the U.S. Marine Corps that the company will not be receiving any additional delivery orders for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP) program.”
Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp. in St. Louis, MO received a $7.4 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) for the redesign of 5 monolithic microwave integrated circuits used in the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet Block II’s AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar.
Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (95%) and St. Louis, MO (5%), and is expected to be complete in December 2008. Contract funds in the amount of $6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.
In April 2006, “Hello, Moto” covered the US Marines’ $76 million purchase of “intergrated, intra-squad” (IISR) secure 2-way radios from Motorola. Now Motorola, Inc. in Columbia, MD has received an $8.5 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract to provide ancillary equipment for the IISR. Work will be performed in Columbia, MD and is expected to be complete by April 2010. This contract was procured as a sole source by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, SC (N65236-07-D-6306).
As National Defense Magazine’s September 2005 issue notes, the Corps realized it lacked small squad-level communications for urban operations after the invasion of Iraq. Marines liked the British Army’s “personal role radio” and bought 10,000 Selex PRRs from Britain’s war reserve. The PRR is a small transmitter-receiver similar to civilian two-way radios, which allows infantry soldiers to communicate over short distances. Meanwhile, some soldiers and Marines were buying related civilian systems like Motorola’s TalkAbout series – something that should have been anticipated after the USMC’s “Urban Warrior 98” exercise [PDF]. The Corps belatedly made procurement a priority, but wanted a longer range than the PRR’s 500 meters and more secure encryption.
“Return of the Gators?” covered the return of riverine patrol craft to the US Navy, albeit in configurations likely to lead to higher medical bills later on. The effort was being advised in part by veterans who had served in Vietnam; as the USS Sohnomish County [LST 1126] site explains, one of the lessons from that conflict was the usefulness of large LST (landing ship, tank) craft as “motherships” for riverine squadrons. Reader Lee Wahler, who was aboard a couple, writes:
“They were designated AGP – Patrol Craft Tenders outfitted specifically for PBR and other boat support as well as a helo deck for the Seawolves. There were also ARLs, which were more repair ships.”
Now Edison Chouest Offshore in Galliano, LA has received a $7.5 million fixed-price contract for the charter of U.S. flagged Maritime Support Vessel MV C-Courageous “to support maritime security operations”…
Forrester Construction Co. in Rockville, MD won a $7.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for design and construction of a multi-level parking structure at Fort Belvoir, VA. Work is expected to be complete by July 30, 2008. There were 3 bids solicited on March 5, 2007, and 3 bids were received by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Baltimore, MD (W912DR-07-C-0012).
