Bagram: Building a Better Weapons Mount

The Price is right

Allied Trades Section engineers display their creativity and inventiveness by making new tools to help warfighters in the field. Michael Price, shop supervisor with Allied Trades at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, and a retired Army mechanic, is no exception. His shop’s creation is an improved vehicle weapon mount for 5.56mm M249 SAW or 7.62mm M240B machine guns that has gone a long way to provide better small-arms fire protection in Afghanistan.

“It was heavy, and they wanted to know if we could do something different for them; we came up with an idea to make them out of steel, but lighter. There are not as many supports in it, but it’s all welded together instead of bolted together. So it’s a lot better piece of equipment.”

Price’s shop has produced about 400 of them, out of about 700 requests so far. The new design apparently enables better protection for service members in vehicles, and they were able to save about $1,100 per mount by producing it on site. US DoD story.

FCS Phase 1 Spinouts Prepare for Production

FCS Constellation

“FCS Spin-Out Plans Detailed” has covered the US Army’s revised approach to the $160+ billion Future Combat Systems program, which would deliver a number of elements for use by non-FCS units in up to 4 spin out phases. The FCS program received some minor restructuring in February 2007, and 3 spin out phases are currently planned from 2008-2015.

Field testing of Spin Out 1 technologies went well during “Experiment 1.1” in July 2006 – February 2007, and a recent Critical Design Review of confirmed that they meet design requirements and are ready for integration. Now the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology has approved sole source justification for Future Combat System technology Spin Out Low-Rate Initial Production effort, and for the Non-Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS-C).

In English, the Army has authorized future contracts and planning for FCS low-rate initial production by the Boeing/SAIC Lead Systems Integrator team, who have been managing many of the selection and testing elements of the program and issuing contracts. This will include…

Canada’s Air Expeditionary Wing: CFB Bagotville

CFB Bagotville

Canada’s Air Force currently has a traditional structure based around air wings. The inauguration of Mission Support Squadrons of self-sustaining logistics teams has begun to change that, and Canada has taken another step toward more modern concepts with the formation of an Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) at CFB Bagotville, Quebec. Bagotville is currently home to 3 Wing, and one of only 2 CF-18 fighter bases in Canada (the other is Cold Lake, Alberta).

$5.9M to Renovate CBIRF’s Building 902

And that’s just
the mold…

John C. Grimberg Company, Inc. in Rockville, MD won $5.9 million for firm-fixed price Task Order #0018 under a previously awarded indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract. They will renovate Bachelor Enlisted Quarters Building 902 for the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force at Indian Head, MD, including the complete renovation of Building 902’s piping and fire protection systems, replacement of the heating and ventilation system, mold abatement, and updates to the flooring and walls.

Work will be performed in Indian Head, MD, and is expected to be complete by October 2008. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. A total of 3 proposals were received for this task order by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington’s Public Works Department in South Potomac, Indian Head, MD (N62477-04-D-0012).