Rapid Fire: 2010-05-10

• Gates looks to cut $10 billion to $15 billion per year in Pentagon waste. Washington Post | New York Times | Associated Press | CNN

• Leaked Swiss Defense Ministry paper calls for shift from defense of homeland to security operations inside country.

• Canada’s CGI to acquire US defense IT firm Stanley for over $1 billion.

• Springtime for the Taliban: US military braces for large influx of Taliban fighters into Kandahar.

• Sparton in Schaumburg, IL snags $28 million subcontract to supply 33,604 AN/SSQ-53F, AN/SSQ-62E, and AN/SSQ-36B sonobuoys for the US Navy’s antisubmarine forces.

• Lockheed Martin to provide the transportable BEAR power system for USAF mobile airfields.

• The National System for Geospatial Intelligence certifies the space-based SBIRS HEO-2 sensor is ready for US technical intelligence missions.

Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle 2010-05

(c) DJ Elliott

DJ Elliott is a retired USN Intelligence Specialist (22 years active duty) who has been analyzing and writing on Iraqi Security Forces developments since 2006. His Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle is an open-source compilation that attempts to map and detail Iraqi units and equipment, as their military branches and internal security forces grow and mature. While “good enough for government use” is not usually uttered as a compliment, US Army TRADOC has maintained permission to use the ISF OOB for their unclassified handouts since 2008.

This compilation is reproduced here with full permission. It offers a set of updates highlighting recent changes in the ISF’s composition and development, followed by the full updated ISF OOBs in PDF form. Reader feedback and tips are encouraged. This month’s developments include:

• Iraqi Army
  
• Iraqi Air Force
  
• Ministry of the Interior
  
• Additional Readings: Full ISF OOB
  
• Additional Readings: DID Articles
  

Egypt to Add AH-64D Block II Attack Helicopters

AH-64D Blocks

In May 2009, Egypt made its official request to buy another 10 AH-64D Apache Block II attack helicopters. These helicopters would join 35-42 AH-64s already operated by the Egyptian Air Force, which have already been upgraded to AH-64D Block I status. The estimated cost for this order is up to $820 million, but a DSCA request is not the same thing as a formal contract. The exact details any follow-on sales are always a matter for future negotiations, unless Congress blocks the sale within 30 days.

They did not, and initial contracts are beginning.

GE to Overhaul, Upgrade UH-60 Blackhawk, AH-64 Apache Engines

T700 engine

General Electric Engine Services in Cincinnati, OH received a $9.2 million firm-fixed-price contract for the overhaul and upgrade of 20 T700-GE-701C turbine engines to the T700-GE-701D configuration applicable to the UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters.

The US Army’s program to upgrade its fleet of UH-60A and UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters to the UH-60M configuration includes upgrading the aircraft’s T700-GE-700 engines using GE kits to the T700-GE-701D configuration…