The Patria Group s Finland’s biggest defense company, with product offerings that range from mortars to vehicles to aircraft. The joint venture Millog Oy is part of that group, and the firm has just signed an 8-year, EUR 484 million (currently $755 million) base partnership agreement that will transfer most of the Finnish army’s equipment maintenance at the beginning of 2009. Patria Oyj’s release says that Finnish Army equipment maintenance currently costs about EUR 100 million per year.
The partnership is best described as a partial transfer, but it does fit the general model of partnered defense maintenance contracts around the world. Front line repair shops will continue their operations as part of the Finnish Defence Forces, while the partnership agreement covers life-cycle support and depot-level vehicle repairs. Millog will work on electronic, missile and weapon systems, as well as modifications and installations to all equipment. The maintenance organisations of Materiel Command, including Electronics Centre, Vehicle Depot and Depots in Kuopio, Lievestuore and Tervola will be transferred to Millog at the beginning of 2009. Millog will use the Defence Forces’ information systems and will receive about 520 people from the military, plus another 100 who will be retired by 2013 and will work under Millog’s supervision.
Finally, Millog Oy will act as a neutral expert, helping the Army plan for the maintenance costs of related procurements. The joint venture of Patria, Insta Group, Raskone, Sisu Auto Ab and Oricopa expects annual net sales of about 70 million going forward, and by 2016 the firm expects to raise 25% of revenues from customers other than this Army partnership.
Raytheon in Tucson, AZ received a maximum $6.9 million contract. This contract will provide a Global Positioning System (GPS) circuit card assembly that utilizes Selective Availability Ant-Spoofing Module (SAASM) technology. With GPS embedded in everything from smart bombs to hand-held devices carried by thousands of US and foreign military troops, the ability to protect GPS-related “m-code” circuits from jamming is a critical capability.
This contract will support foreign military sales to Austria, Bahrain, Chile, Columbia, Egypt, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. Raytheon Facility-100% Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, MA received the contract (FA8807-08-D-0002)
ECC, Inc. in Burlingame, CA received a $13.2 million firm-fixed price contract for design and construction of facilities for the Afghan National Police Border Police Zone. Work will be performed in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, and is expected to be complete by July 1, 2009. Five bids were solicited on April 23/08, and 4 bids were received. The U.S. Army Engineer District, Afghanistan manages the contract (W917PM-07-D-0015).
Mazar-e-Sharif is located in northern Afghanistan, near the border with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. While there are a good number of Uzbeks among the foreign jihadis in Afghanistan, the Uzbek border is not their major transit point. Most come from fifedoms within al-Qaeda’s enclaves in Pakistan, which were set up by al-Qaeda and the Taliban after friction between foreign jihadis and local tribes flared into serious violence. Nevertheless, securing Afghanistan’s borders is an important job for the civil government, and allowing any obvious weak points is an invitation to have them exploited.
