The grenade machine gun was invented to provide area-effect infantry firepower that could decimate enemy infantry with fragmentation bursts from multiple 40mm grenades. The Saco/GD Mk19 is one of the world’s most common GMGs, and events in Afghanistan et. al. are making these weapons very popular. No weapon can be effective without proper training, however – which leads to the question of how one does live training involving a GMG? Glad you asked…
Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH, doing business as Niederlassung NICO Trittau in Trittau, Germany, just received $39 million for delivery order #0003 under a previously awarded firm-fixed indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-06-D-1027) for the production of 1,496,000 40mm MK281 Mod 0 Practice Cartridges, plus accompanying non-recurring costs. The MK 281 is a training cartridge consisting of 32 rounds linked together in a belt for use in the Mk19 Grenade Machine Gun. Upon impact with the ground, the cartridges expel a non-toxic orange dye that is visible up to a minimum of 1,200 meters in normal daylight conditions, and a chemiluminescent insert that is visible up to 500 meters in darkness (especially with night vision goggles).
That ought to remove the old “I hit you… Did not… Did too…” discussions we all remember so well. Work will be performed Trittau, Germany, is work is expected to be completed by September 2008. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Program Manager for Ammunition in Quantico, VA issued the contract.
As mechanical things get more complex, the difficulty of testing them increases. Think about the testing set-ups you see in today’s auto shops, for instance, vs. the equipment you would have seen 40 years ago. The same dynamic is at work with respect to the devices found in military vehicles and aircraft – and even the weapons they carry.
DME Corp. in Orlando, FL won a $31.9 million for delivery order #0005 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-05-D-3011) for VIPER/T Third Echelon Test Set (TETS) and related equipment. TETS is a weapon system field portable, automated, diagnostic fault isolation mechanism. It is currently used to test components of weapons systems (e.g. Avenger air defense system, TOW 2 Missile, LAV-25 vehicle, LAV-AD vehicle), radar systems (TPS-59, TPS-63, TPQ-46A), and communications gear (TRC-170, Unit Level Circuit Switch). It is also being used to test items from the Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) and will be used to test components of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV, formerly AAAV).
TETS has 3 variants; Radio Frequency (RF), Electro-Optical (EO), and RF/EO. This order covers 32 EO variants, 6 RF/EO variants, 38 Stand Alone Instrument Fixtures, and 38 Calibration Interface Devices. Work will be performed in Orlando, FL, Santa Barbara, CA, and Austin, TX, and is expected to be complete in September 2009. This contract was competitively awarded through full and open competition, with 2 offers received by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA.
Observers often note the spiraling price of aircraft and helicopters, without considering the rising cost of the equipment that goes into them. A recent contract offers an excellent illustration of that dynamic in action.
Aug 15/07: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $951.7 million finalization modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-06-C-0098). This definitization effort will result in a firm-fixed-price multiyear contract for the procurement of 139 MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems, covering FY 2007 (Lot 5) through FY 2011 (Lot 9). When combined with advance procurement contracts from January and May 2006 totaling $113.6 million, the total value of this multi-year contract rises to $1.065 billion – $7.66 million per set. It could have been $8.58 million each…
It has been one of the most puzzling features of the MRAP competition to date. Thales Australia’s Bushmaster vehicle was one of the first mine-resistant vehicles on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, where it has served successfully with Australian and Dutch forces. Yet it reaped none of the “low risk deployment” orders issued at the competition’s inception, and has received none since. Now Thales Australia makes it official: with over 80% of allotted vehicles ordered, the Bushmaster Category II JERRV vehicle is out of the race for MRAP-I competition orders.
Afghanistan is shaping up as a test of the NATO alliance – and thus far, the report is mixed. While a number of allied countries have committed troops, very few of the NATO countries’ available helicopters have been committed, despite promises made and commanders’ requests from the field. A June 2007 meeting in Brussels featured bromides and minor adjustments, but few serious commitments. Britain, the Netherlands, and the USA still contribute most of the helicopter support in theater, with some assistance from non-NATO partner Australia.
The sizeable helicopter fleets belonging to NATO members like France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have been notable mostly by their general absence during the European failure to meet NATO commitments. In response, the USA has been forced to extend the deployment of 20 CH-47 helicopters by 6 months, in order to try and make up the shortfall.
Another way to stanch the wound is to charter private helicopter support that can take care of more routine missions in theater, freeing the military helicopters in theater for other tasks. Which may explain why Hummingbird Aviation, LLC in Hammond, LA, won an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) type contract for $112.3 million “to perform services necessary to perform rotary wing transportation services to transport Class I – X supplies, U.S. Mail and passengers. Rotary wing transportation services are to be performed in Afghanistan at military airfields.” Services will be performed from Oct 1/07 – Sept 30/09 (the Pentagon’s FY08-FY09 period). This contract was competitively procured, with 2 offers received by the USTRANSCOM Directorate of Acquisitions at Scott Air Force Base, IL (HTC711-07-D-0033).
Saab Underwater Systems has received an SEK 80 million (about $11.6 million) order from the German company Atlas Elektronik (now part of EADS) for its Double Eagle UUV(unmanned underwater vehicles). The Double Eagle Systems are remotely operated underwater vehicles used for mine hunting and other operations; the upgraded Double Eagle Mk.III systems will be prepared for SAROV configuration, which means that the vehicles can be operated as fully autonomous Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. Previous versions of the Double Eagle UUV were already in serrvice with Finland’s Navy; Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands also operate Double Eagles.
The new UUVs will be installed on Finland’s new minesweepers; Atlas Elektronik is acting as the systems integrator. As Saab Underwater Systems CEO Lars Tossman added in Saab’s corporate release:
“The Finnish Navy has extensive experience and knowledge of mine hunting. Since the middle of the 1990s, when they bought their first Double Eagle system, they have furthermore achieved genuine understanding of the usefulness of remotely operated underwater vehicles… This order is particularly important since the Finnish Navy’s new mine hunting vessels will be assigned to very important national and international missions, especially within the MCM(Mine Counter Measures) area. This is not least the case in the Baltic Sea, where the amount of left-over naval mines and also other environmental threats is extensive.”
This is of course very surprising, given Finland’s close proximity to its friendly, careful, and respectful Russian neighbor.
Aug 14/07: IAP Worldwide Services, Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiary Readiness Management Support, LC in Panama City, FL received a $63.7 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, performance-based contract for year one services, with a provision for firm-fixed-price task orders. RMS will provide aviation technical services, which is the combination of equipment maintenance of Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems (ATCALS) and flight operational services at US Central Command (CENTCOM) air bases/stations. CENTCOM covers the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa. As one might expect, air traffic patterns are rather busy these days. IAP/RMS had played a leading role in developing Afghanistan’s air traffic control system to support Operation Enduring Freedom, and also established the Kabul Area Control Center.
This procurement provides for electronic equipment maintenance services and air traffic management to support air traffic control operations and maintenance (O&M), airfield management, air to ground communications O&M, and aviation weather systems O&M at multiple locations in US CENTCOM. To that end, IAP has built a team of key providers: Midwest Air Traffic Control Service Inc. (air traffic management functions), Lockheed Martin Information Systems (ATCALS equipment maintenance) functions. Depending on the scope of additional work, AIR Inc. (Micro Earth Resources Technology Satellite programming) and/or Scientific Research Corporation (meteorology), may be called upon. The contract includes 4 one-year option periods which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to an estimated $388.3 million.
Work will be performed in Southwest Asia, primarily Iraq and Afghanistan, and is expected to be completed August 2008. If all options are exercised, work could continue until August 2012. The contract was competitively procured under full and open competition, and the Request for Proposal was posted on the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center E-commerce website, with 2 offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Charleston, SC, issued the contract (N65236-07-D-6872). IAP release.
Back in 2003, General Dynamics won the Intelligence Information, Command and Control, Equipment and Enhancements (ICE2) contract to support and maintain critical intelligence and command and control systems and networks for U.S. defense and intelligence operations worldwide, as well as related government departments.
A typical site supported through the ICE2 program could be outfitted with commercial-off-the-shelf data-handling equipment, command and control (C2) equipment, local area networks, wide area networks, secure and non-secure video systems, communication devices and intelligence exploitation equipment. The equipment at these sites is used to process information of varying security classifications, and many of the sites are sensitive facilities. The sites provide intelligence data to the National Command Authority and various civilian agencies and departments, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Intelligence Agency, Unified Commands, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and the Departments of State, Energy, and Treasury.
ICE2 replaces the Intelligence Information Processing and Production (I2P2) contract; I2P2 and ICE2 are both managed under the Single Service Logistics Support Manager (SSLSM) program at Robins Air Force Base, GA, and General Dynamics was the 26-year incumbent on the SSLSM contracts. Now the contract’s value has been increased to $2.25 billion…
SRA International Inc., Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for $5.8 million. This action provides for analytical, advisory, management, technical and functional support of 9th Reconnaissance Wing for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information systems, operations planning, programming, and budgeting activities (e.g. integration, IT network support, systems requirements identification, registrar, training, administrative, scheduling, etc.) in support of the U-2 Reconnaissance Program. At this time, total funds have been obligated; work will be complete October 2007. Headquarters 9th Contracting Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, CA (FA4686-07-C-0005).
Developed in the 1960s by Lockheed’s Skunk Works to fly higher than Soviet missiles could reach (an assessment subsequently proved to be in error), the USA’s U-2 “Dragon Lady” has remained a staple of the US Air Force’s surveillance capabilities ever since. The U-2 was originally slated to be retired by the USAF, but its ability to carry certain key payloads (like broad area synoptic imagery equipment) that the RQ-4 Global Hawk can’t yet match is keeping it in service for now.
Small business qualifier Sylvan Forest Products in Portland, OR received a $6.2 million modification to a previously awarded fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for lumber and related products for the northwest region. Using services are the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The date of performance completion is Aug 19/08, and the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA issued the contract (SPM500-01-D-BP08).
Economic price adjustment contracts can receive modifications for 2 reasons: additional orders, or an adjustment to reflect a commodity’s rising price during a contract’s lifetime. Without that, small business qualifiers couldn’t afford to bid on many federal contracts due to the huge price fluctuation risk involved.
