Spain’s armed forces have recently placed a wide range of orders for vehicles, radios, ammunition, and other supplies and services, which are worth about EUR 250 million (currently $363 million) taken together.
In September 2005, “South Africa’s Denel Forced Into Strategic Shift” examined the changed business landscape for the firm, which was suffering from the collapse of its domestic arms market as a source of guaranteed funding, and a flood of red ink on its balance sheet. The turnabout has been slow, but the firm’s leadership has made it clear that global alliances and sub-contractor status, with a prime role in its domestic market, is the way forward for them.
One of the product groups Denel has always been known for is its artillery systems, which may be the best in the world. Their accurate G6 155mm howitzers continue to outrange all competitors, and the base-bleed ammunition technology they pioneered has become a widespread option for countries looking to extend the range of their existing artillery systems. Industrial partnerships with Rheinmetall and Diehl BGT Defence of Germany have led to orders to supply Germany’s 155mm howitzer and 120mm mortar ammunition, and partnerships have also been explored with General Dynamics in the USA.
Despite their difficulties winning international sales with a superior product, Denel isn’t quite ready to give up its artillery system crown jewels just yet. On the ammunition front, however, business partner Rheinmetall’s move to combine the 2 firms’ customer coverage and technologies has met with a warmer reception.
Some of the most famous and respected combat aircraft in Israel’s Cheyl Ha’Avir have never shot down an enemy plane, and never dropped a bomb. The C-130 Hercules (“Karnaf” or Rhino to the IAF) achieved fame by being the transport that carried Israeli troops into the heart of Africa, during the dramatic hostage rescue at Entebbe. Their 8 C-130E aircraft have been refurbished and given C-130H wings, and are up for sale. The remaining 10 aircraft, which include 4 KC-130 dual-role aerial refuelers, retain their customary roles.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)’s Bedek Aviation Group has signed a 9 1/2 year contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) to provide “comprehensive and continuous maintenance services to the Israel Air Force (IAF) Heavy Transport Aircraft Wing,” which is to say its C-130s, and possibly some of Israel’s 14 707-300 “Re’em” (Oryx) and “Phalcon” (AWACS variant) aircraft. IAI estimates that the total full value of these maintenance services could reach $170 million. Services will begin at both the IAF’s base and Bedek’s facilities, but eventually tall services will be provided on base. The base was not specified, but according to Scramble all IDF C-130s and 707s are based at Ben-Gurion/Lod, near Tel Aviv. IAI release.
US Congressional Government Accountability Office auditors, in “GAO-08-294: Best Practices: Increased Focus on Requirements and Oversight Needed to Improve DOD’s Acquisition Environment and Weapon System Quality“:
“A Senate report related to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 asked GAO to compare quality management practices used by the Department of Defense (DOD) and its contractors to those used by leading commercial companies and make suggestions for improvement. To do this, GAO (1) determined the impact of quality problems on selected weapon systems and prime contractor practices that contributed to the problems; (2) identified commercial practices that can be used to improve DOD weapon systems; (3) identified problems that DOD must overcome; and (4) identified recent DOD initiatives that could improve quality. GAO examined 11 DOD weapon systems with known quality problems and met with quality officials from DOD, defense prime contractors, and five leading commercial companies that produce complex products and/or are recognized for quality products.”
In the Close Quarters Battle that characterizes urban warfare, jungle warfare, and other “close encounters” terrain, the ability to quickly and accurately point a weapon can determine who lives and who dies. If you’ve ever wondered why many pictures show troops with a little grip handle pointing downward near the front of their rifle, that’s why. On the other hand, there are situations in which accuracy is key. Urban situations with many civilians, for instance, or any other kind of situation that requires marksmanship. Cameras aren’t the only things that shoot better when stabilized, which is why you often see sniper rifles with folding bipods, despite their bulky inconvenience and annoyance factor. Bipods are also attached to light or medium machine guns to give them more stability despite heavy recoil, and deliver accurate fire for effect.
Savi Technology, Inc. of Mountain View, CA, which became a Lockheed Martin subsidiary in an May 2006 acquisition, recently received time and ceiling extension to its US military RFID contract. The firm has provided RFID solutions to the DoD for more than a decade, and helped build the DoD’s RF In-Transit Visibility (ITV) network, which spans more than 45 countries and tracks military supplies through 4,000 sites. The current RFID II contract was initially awarded in January 2003, and this is the 2nd contract extension and 3rd ceiling increase that Savi has received. This latest modification extend its period to Jan 31/09, and its ceiling is increased by about $60 million to $483 million.
Think of RFID as wireless bar codes that don’t need to be swiped individually. Savi’s products include active RFID asset tags, data rich high performance tags, sensor tags that monitor security and environmental conditions, related fixed and mobile readers, as well as fully integrated site and enterprise software products that enable customers to track shipments worldwide. The US military has invested heavily in RFID for its supply chain; recent years have begun to feature positive results, as well as the creation of an RFID solutions center near Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.
These contract amendments were made by the U.S. Army’s Information Technology, E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4), and the executive agent for the DoD is the office of the Product Manager, Joint-Automatic Identification Technology. In addition to the US DoD, this Lockheed Martin group provides RFID solutions for NATO, and defense forces in the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, et. al. One of its current foci building interoperable RFID-based networks for allies, enabling them to improve the management of consignments for multi-national, joint-force operations – something USJFCOM has also been working hard to achieve. See Lockheed Martin release.
InnovaSystems International LLC in San Diego, CA received a $14.1 cost-plus-award-fee contract to support the Defense Readiness Reporting System – Navy. Work will include system engineering, system design/development, integration, testing, installation, training, lifecycle maintenance, procurement support, help desk services, management support, and system documentation. This one-year contract includes 4 one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the potential, cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $75.8 million. This award follows an August 2005 contract, which had a maximum value of $47.6 million.
Work will be performed in San Diego, CA and work is expected to be complete in February 2009. This contract was a sole-source justification and approval was signed in accordance with FAR Subpart 6.302-1 and 10 U.S.C. 2304c1, for Only One Responsible Source. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego, CA issued the contract (N66001-08-D-0030).
Interestingly, the US Congressional GAO issued a related report on Feb 1/08: “GAO-08-264: Military Readiness: Navy Is Making Progress Implementing Its Fleet Response Plan, but Has Not Fully Developed Goals, Measures, and Resource Needs” examines the US Navy’s March 2003 Fleet Response Plan (FRP), which made significant, positive changes in the way the Navy manages its forces, and is intended to more rapidly prepare and then sustain readiness in ships and squadrons. Will it be enough, in light of expected shipbuilding?
The US Aerospace industry remains one of America’s strong export successes, and serves as an important core of the nation’s high-tech manufacturing workforce. An improved set of aerospace industry tax incentives in 2005 was a start, but AIA and others have been pressing for more. In late December 2007, NASA announced a National Plan for Aeronautics Research and Development and Related Infrastructure under Presidential Executive Order (EO) 13419. That’s wouldn’t be a big event in Britain or Europe, but it’s a first for America. The plan will be updated every 2 years, and stretches over a 10-year horizon with near (<5 year) and longer term (5-10 year) goals. A supplemental report with additional technical content, a preliminary assessment of relevant Federal aeronautics R&D activities to identify areas of increased emphasis and of redundancy, and an infrastructure plan that will include an identification of RDT&E capabilities considered critical to satisfying the national aeronautics R&D goals and objectives are all under construction in 2008 as supplements to the basic plan.
A number of the plan’s goals are civilian, of course and relate to airspace traffic and safety. Others are more obviously military…
In January 2006, “$8B ACS Spy Plane Program Shot Down By Pentagon” described the demise of the joint Army/Navy Aerial Common Sensor program. ACS intended to replace the King Air derived RC-12N Guardrail, Dash-7 derived RC-7B “Crazy Hawk”/ARL, and P-3 Orion derived EP-3E Aries aircraft, with a new multi-role reconnaissance platform based on a small regional jet airframe. The original Embraer ERJ-145 platform proposed by Lockheed Martin proved too small, and even an attempted move to the same Bombardier Global Express jet used in the UK’s new ASTOR Sentinel R1 reconnaissance platform did not avail them. The US Army expressed no confidence, and put the project back to square one as it revised both its specs and its approach.
The Navy, meanwhile, split from ACS and went its own way, initiating the EPX program to replace its EP-3s. Boeing has proposed a reconnaissance and electronic intelligence version of the same 737 aircraft that the Navy plans to use for its P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and other entrants to the proposed manned aircraft program are likely.
Now the Army has also rethought its approach, and begun the process of revisiting the ACS project. A $460+ million program will refurbish and upgrade the RC-12N Guardrail fleet to extend their service life, UAVs have emerged to fill some of the short-range reconnaissance gap, and SIGINT(SIGnals INTelligence, i.e. electronic eavesdropping) capabilities are being added to the USAF’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs reconnaissance sensors from Block 20 onward. The Guardrails will still have a limited lifespan, however, and this coverage set still leaves holes. Hence the new approach to ACS…
MacGREGOR USA Inc. in Cedar Knolls, N.J., is being awarded a $19.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for the detail design, fabrication, installation, and documentation of the Test Article Vehicle Transfer System (TAVTS). The TAVTS will demonstrate the transfer of vehicles between a Large Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off (LMSR or Ro-Ro) ship, and a surrogate for the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship, which will be designed and bought for the US Navy as a key Seabasing component. The 2 primary components of the TAVTS are a self-deploying ramp system that will be installed on a surrogate MLP that can move around, and a self-deploying sideport platform that will be mounted to an existing LMSR ship – either a T-AKR 300 Bob Hope Class, or T-AKR Watson Class.
Work will be performed by Hagglunds subsidiary MacGREGOR in Chesapeake, VA and Cedar Knolls, NJ; and with MacGREGOR USA affiliates in Poland, Sweden, and Norway, and is expected to be complete by November 2009. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via Federal Business Opportunities, with 2 offers received by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington, DC (N00024-08-C-2222).
Reader and US MSC veteran Lee Wahler comments that they have serious challenges ahead of them:
