Rapid Fire: 2010-03-29

• NATO chief urges missile defense system against rogue states, calls on Russia to join. Reuters | Bloomberg | Haaretz

• UK MoD gives go ahead for full production of the 5th Astute Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, early material & equipment buys for #6.

• Two if by sea: Honeywell lights LAMPS for US Navy.

• DynCorp to maintain Royal Saudi helicopter fleet under US Army contract worth up to $43.1 million.

• SAIC snags $26 million order to provide IT to Walter Reed Army hospital.

• The Heritage Foundation calls on Congress for 1 day to walk to work, skip lunch, turn off Blackberries, and debate by candlelight, all to simulate an EMP attack. Like that’s going to happen (without another snowstorm).

• Pentagon revamps Afghan deployment strategy so US troops can develop regional expertise; Canada confirms Afghan troop withdrawal in 2011.

• USMC contract to Israel Military Industries for their Foot-Mobile Assault Bridge. For a better understanding of why that matters in Afghanistan, and the challenges faced by the USMC in theater, see below:
  
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Setting Up The BCTs: Ft. Bliss, TX Getting a Lot of Construction Work

Fort Bliss, Texas is seeing a lot of activity these days, in part due to its convenient location near Biggs Army Airfield and White Sands Missile Range. In addition to hosting the US Army’s Center for Air Defense, Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas will be relocating Brigade Combat Teams from their previous posts in Europe. One of those brigades will then assume a role as the Evaluation Brigade Combat Team tasked with testing and training with systems from the Future Combat Systems program. The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 process added impetus to this expansion.

As one might gather, that means a lot of construction work etc. over at Fort Bliss, TX. This article shines a spotlight on announced contracts from September 2006 to the present day, adding contracts that have been issued since October 2008.

EG&G Gets $181.3M to Close CAMDS at Deseret Chemical Depot

Chemical weapons disposal

EG&G Defense Materials, a division of URS Corp., in Tooele, UT received a $181.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Phase 2 chemical agent munitions disposal system (CAMDS) closure as well as CAMDS & Deseret Chemical Depot secondary waste and nerve gas tabun (GA)/Lewisite disposal.

The US Army’s CAMDS, located at Deseret Chemical Depot, ceased chemical munitions disposal in 2005. Initial closure activities were carried out by the Tennessee Valley Authority, who was replaced by private contractor EG&G Defense Materials.

The closure process is currently in phase II, with equipment already removed from the buildings. More detailed closure plans are being written for CAMDS and final closure is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2012…