L-3 Out, Dyncorp-McNeil in for $4.65B Iraq Translation Contract?

Translators on the ground are an often-overlooked but critically important aspect of US operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, et. al. Indeed, when L-3 Communications acquired Titan Corp. in a $2+ billion June 2005 deal, one of the strengths it was buying was Titan’s status as the U.S. Government’s leading supplier of linguists and interpreters under the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command’s (INSCOM) Worldwide Linguist Support Contract.

In a services business, however, such strengths are only as durable as the contracts they’re associated with. Indeed, this is one of the reasons services businesses tend to have low acquisition multiples.

A December 2006 US Army award brought that principle into sharp focus, by handing the 5-year, $4.65 billion contract for Iraq-related translation and interpretation services to Global Linguistic Solutions LLC (GLS), a joint venture formed by security contractor DynCorp International (51%) and McNeil Technologies. But a GAO protest placed the whole process into limbo – and the GAO’s ruling stirred the issue up further. The process has finally resolved again after almost a full year, with L-3 providing all translation services in the interim. And the winner is…

The US Navy’s FY 2007 Nuclear Propulsion Contracts

Basic Nuclear Propulsion
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In October 2006, the US Navy awarded over $1 billion in contracts related to naval nuclear propulsion, some of which echo a set of contracts issued in October 2005 that were worth about $898.5 million. DID has provided related comparative figures for our readers where applicable, and we have continued to track nuclear propulsion-related contracts throughout FY 2007. Including awards over the last week worth over $1 billion.

Note that all contracts are awarded by The US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC, and that completion date or other additional information will not be provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. Other contracts related to maintenance, however, may show completion dates.

Alenia’s C-27J Wins Romanian Contract

C-27J Spartan
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After a competition that saw the Alenia Aeronautica’s C-27J Spartan/ “Baby Herc” face off against EADS-CASA’s C-295M, Alenia Aeronautica announced on Dec 1/06 [PDF] that Romania’s Ministry of Defence has began exclusive final negotiations for 7 light tactical transports, plus support et. al. The planes will also be equipped with a complete (but as-yet unspecified) self-protection system to allow them to carry out missions in high-threat areas. The Romanian contract was expected to be signed by the end of 2006.

The contract took much longer, and was interspersed with some drama along the way, but a contract has finally been signed, and planes are being delivered…