Spain’s Ejercito del Aire recently signed a 10-year, EUR 150 million (about $225 million) contract with EADS Defence & Security’s Military Air Systems unit, in order to maintain its Eurofighter fleet at Morón Air Base near Seville, Spain. EADS has been supporting the Spanish Eurofighter fleet since 2003 in Getafe, and since 2004 at Moron. Spain has ordered 73 Eurofighters to date: 19 Tranche 1, 34 Tranche 2, and 20 Tranche 3A production jets.
ON Aircraft Scheduled Inspections Industrial Service (OASIIS) is a performance-based contract whose financial bonuses and penalties are based on aircraft availability criteria. OASIIS includes scheduled maintenance activities, as well as the procurement and management of spares for the fleet. This is the first time EADS has signed this kind of shared risk agreement with the Spanish Air Force, but it does mirror a trend in Britain, and in subsequent contracts covering Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Eurofighter auxillary systems. See Eurofighter GmbH.
On Nov 23/09, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced [PDF] Peru’s formal request for the 2 Newport Class Tank Landing Ships Fresno (LST-1182, commissioned 1969) and Racine (LST-1191, commissioned 1971) from Navy storage. Technically, Newport and Charleston class ships are held in reserve status under the Amphibious Lift Enhancement Program (ALEP), as the Newport Class is one of the 4 ship classes being replaced by the LPD-17 San Antonio Class. Part of the sale process, therefore, involves a formal designation of these 2 ships as “excess defense articles.”
Peru currently operates 3 former US Navy Paita (ex-Terrebonne Parish) class LSTs, which were laid down in the mid-1950s and transferred in 1984.
General Electric Aviation in Cincinnati, OH received a $44.2 million contract modification to provide redesigned High Pressure Compressor (HPC) and High Pressure Turbine (HPT) assemblies, redesigned Aging Engine Upgrade (AEU) components, initial provisioning spares, and new technical data to support the Service Life Extension Plan (SLEP) and AEU initiatives to keep the US F-16 fleet’s F110 engines running.
DID has more coverage of orders placed under this contract.
The GE F110 was developed as an engine alternative to Pratt & Whitney’s original F100, and has since become popular in F-16s due to its higher thrust. Most of the USAF’s current F-16 fleet currently flies with F110 engines.
In late December 2006, the German Federal Armed Forces commissioned a consortium consisting of Siemens Business Services (SBS) and IBM to modernize and manage its non-military information and communications technology under the HERKULES project. A company called BWI Informationstechnik GmbH (BWI IT) has been formed in Meckenheim near Bonn, Germany to supply the relevant IT services. Siemens and IBM hold 50.1% of the shares in a 25.05%/ 25.05% split, while the German Federal Government holds 49.9%. The Bundeswehr is represented on the board of directors, and the consortium is open to audit by the military, the German Defense Ministry and the General Accountants Office.
The 10-year contract is now worth approximately EUR 7.1 billion (currently about $9.3 billion), including value added tax. This is touted as the largest current public-private partnership (PPP) in Europe, and up to 2,950 German Federal Armed Forces IT employees will be working within the project. After 10 years, BWI will revert to 100% Bundeswehr control. The project is underway, but rising costs are leading to rumbles about cancellation:
From the Hydra to the Stables: Bids, and Responsibilities
AECOM Government Services in Fort Worth, TX received a $20.1 million sole source, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide vehicle maintenance, night vision device maintenance, and training services to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) at various sites within Iraq. This is a 6-month bridge contract while a new long-term contract is being competed.
AECOM will provide the following vehicle maintenance services: training to Iraqi maintenance repair personnel, deployment of Mobile Support Teams to ISF locations to perform light and medium repairs, sustainment of the Joint Repair Parts Command (JRPC) complex at Taji, and bilingual personnel for interaction with US government representatives at vehicle maintenance locations. In addition, the company will provide training and repair capabilities for night vision devices issued to the ISF.
Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) received a task order to provide a range of IT services to the US Navy Region Southeast (NRSE).
The task order, awarded under the GSA Millennia Lite Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), has a 1-year base period of performance, two 1-year options and a contract value of $25 million, if all options are exercised.
With a program ceiling of $20 billion, Millennia Lite is a multiple award, indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity GWAC providing IT services under 4 functional areas: IT capital planning, studies, and assessments; high-end IT services; mission support services; and legacy systems migration and new enterprise systems development…
