US permanent rep to NATO, Ivo Daalder, makes case for a NATO missile defense system as leaders prepare for summit in Lisbon this week.
Sitting this one out: Australian Collins-class diesel-electric sub HMAS Dechaineux in sitting out the Royal Australian Navy’s annual anti-submarine warfare exercises after colliding with a tug while departing its berth at Fleet Base West in Perth. It’s not a defect, but it’s not good news for Australia’s thin submarine force.
Crash program: As many as 60 Indian military aircraft have crashed over the last 3 years, according to Defense Minister Antony.
Uncle Sam Wants You: CACI gets $75 million contract to support DoD’s virtual interactive processing system for new recruits.
In its 6th flight test, the Raytheon/Boeing JAGM team fires a missile with the new rocket motor installed. JAGM represents the lion’s share of future American precision attack missiles.
Night-time worries: Afghan President Karzai wants the US to end special ops night-time raids, reduce military operations in his country.
Frost and Sullivan: Asia-Pacific land defense systems market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% to 2016, when it is expected to reach $9.4 billion.
Up to $116 million to URS to provide design and construction services for communications upgrades and electrical distribution systems at USMC Camp Pendleton.
Deja-vu: Atlanta-based Integrated Environmental Services gets contract to build facility for the French Ministry of Interior to destroy chemical munitions from World War I.
India’s M-MRCA competition is currently the largest and most lucrative fighter competition in the world. I believe Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Block 60+ “Super Viper” offering will have a difficult time making past the shortlist of six. Other contenders vying for the USD 11 billion deal include Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornet, MiG-35, SAAB Gripen NG, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale.
One major factor working specifically against the Lockheed Martin F-16’s is that it has been in operation in the Pakistan Air Force for decades. It is clearly an older, single engined platform compared to its competitors and just does not impress the Indian Air Force regardless of the media blitz launched by the Director of Advance Development Programme Mr. Michael R Griswold in New Delhi last week…
Nov 4/10: The US DSCA announces [PDF] Bahrain’s formal request to buy 30 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) T2K Unitary Missiles, Missile Common Test Device software, ATACMS Quality Assurance Team support, publications and technical documentation, training, and other forms of U.S. government and contractor support. The prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin Industries in Camden, AR, and the estimated cost is up to $70 million. Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of approximately 3 government or contractor representatives to travel to Bahrain for a period of 2 weeks for equipment de-processing/fielding, system checkout and training.
M-140 ATACMS missiles can be fired from Bahrain’s M270 MLRS rocket launchers, which received an upgrade contract in March 2009. An ATACMS missile takes up a full firing pod within the M270’s twin-pod layout, and the Unitary Block IA missile replaces the M74 submunitions in previous ATACMS variants with a 500-pound WDU18 unitary warhead, making them especially effective against fortifications and bunkers. The missiles have a range that is described as “up to 300 km,” (180 miles, which keeps it within key treaties) and use GPS guidance to hit their target.
Bahrain
The DSCA announcement adds that “The Bahrain Defense Forces intends to expand its existing army architecture to counter major regional threats.” For readers who may be wondering, a 300 km range could hit some Iranian territory from Bahrain, but it’s a small slice, and high-profile facilities like Bushehr lie beyond that range. The ATACMS ballistic missile has a regional reputation, however, as it has written most of its combat history there. It was employed for the first time in 1991, during the Gulf War military campaign in Kuwait and Iraq. The Block IA Unitary missile was combat proven during operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Bahrain already possesses ATACMS missiles, alongside the USA, Greece, South Korea, and Turkey.
On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, in 1918, the guns ceased. During Remembrance Day, the British Commonwealth countries remember those who came before, and those who came after, and all who have given in their nation’s service. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” is a common accompaniment at ceremonies, where the wearing of poppies is customary (on the left lapel, or as close to the heart as possible), and organizations like the Royal British Legion, Royal Canadian Legion, et. al. are supported.
Per DID tradition and policy, we remind our readers that we do not publish on this day. We hope you have a meaningful day at the commemorative event of your choice.
Small business qualifier Kalitta Charters, LLC in Ypsilanti, MI recently won a $9.4 million fixed-price indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for the air transportation of human remains. Missions will normally originate from Dover Air Force Base, DE, but in some instances may originate from other locations. Flight coverage includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other North American countries agreed upon; the contract will run until Sept 30/11.
Kalitta’s fleet is mostly made up of Learjets, including a 20 series hospital model, as well as a Dassault Falcon 20 business jet, and DC-9 and 727 aircraft. This contract resulted from a 100% small business set-aside acquisition, with 4 proposals received. U.S. Transportation Command’s Directorate of Acquisition at Scott Air Force Base, IL manages this contract (HTC711-11-D-R004).
Sino-Russian detente – or at least a service contract or 2: China, Russia sign military cooperation agreement that includes contracts for spare parts for air defense systems, aviation, and naval equipment.
Not so bad: CEO of UK defense contractor Babcock expects UK defense spending to improve over the next 6 months; company wants to revive canceled UK military training contract.
It’s so urgent: In response to an urgent CENTCOM request, DISA fields 5,300 push-to-talk DTCS-RO radios, which use the Iridium satellite communication infrastructure, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When countries export weapons, they frequently set associated conditions. Rules against reselling the gear without permission would be a basic condition for obvious reasons, and more advanced restrictions on technology transfer, sharing of details about the weapon with other countries, and related codicils are also common. Some western countries will also place restrictions on what the purchaser can do with the weapons as part of these “End Use Monitoring” (EUM) agreements. Britain recently forbade Indonesia from using its Scorpion light tanks against a separatist insurgency in Aceh, which caused Indonesia to turn toward Russia as a future supplier. In Africa, Chad encountered trouble from Switzerland after its Pilatus-7 turboprops were reportedly armed for use against a Sudanese-backed guerrilla army. A problem that Sudanese forces and their allies don’t seem to have with Sudan’s new Chinese and Russian jets.
During the Cold War, regimes always had the option of playing Western suppliers off against the Soviet Union. With the USSR’s collapse, that option disappeared for a while. In the early 21st century, the re-emergence of Russia’s weapons industry, and the development of competitive arms industries in countries like China, South Korea, Brazil, and India, is changing the global equation again. EUMs are likely to be affected by this trend, as the leverage to apply them declines. The question is which items are deal-breakers that must be retained by western countries, and which will be allowed to quietly fall by the wayside. That decision will be different in different countries, of course. Meanwhile, the strains created in India by standard American EUMs are an early indicator…
According to the Landmine Monitor Report, landmines and “explosive remnants of war” contaminate as many as 200,000 square kilometers of land in more than 90 countries around the world. Allied forces deal with that reality every day in Afghanistan, where Soviet-era relics create their own threat, but this is a problem in many other countries, and the civilian technologies used to address the problem have now fallen behind current military practice.
The Pentagon’s Humanitarian De-Mining program is not new, and is pursuing a number of new technologies based on a combination of US military and civilian systems. Applied Research Associates, Inc., Albuquerque, NM recently received a $9.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to “develop and test cost effective intelligent systems that will address present and future humanitarian demining (HO) mine and unexploded ordinance (UXO) clearance needs.”
The systems they develop are intended to support mission planning, detection and clearance of landmines and UXO, and will be executed in 6 primary areas: landmine detection, UXO detection, intelligence systems, minefield management, humanitarian demining special initiatives, and system integration and logistics. Work is to be performed in Albuquerque, NM (89%); Long Beach, MI (4%); Durham, NC (3%); Etna, NH (2%); Gainesville, FL (2%); and Torrensville, South Australia (1%), with an estimated completion date of Oct 28/13. One bid was solicited with one bid received by the CECOM Contracting Center Washington in Fort Belvoir, VA (W909MY-11-C-0002).
