Rapid Fire 2011-01-27: Patrol Boats for Latvia

• General Dynamics sees a 19% jump in 4th quarter earnings, fueled for demand for military vehicles and ships.

• Bad News: Boeing’s net income and revenues drop 8% for the 4th quarter [PDF], due in part to cuts in defense programs.

• New HASC Chairman Howard McKeon criticizes Obama administration’s plans to pare $78 billion from the Pentagon’s topline budget.

• US Navy orders procurement officers to stop buying computer servers or adding new data centers, the Washington Post reports.

• Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay announces awards of C$55.6 million contract to Thales Canada for 2 tactical control radars (TCRs) as part of a C$80 million TCR modernization project; C$5.6 million contract to TLD America for 14 aircraft cargo loaders; and C$1.6 million contract for sewer upgrades at 17 Wing Winnipeg.

• ManTech snags $45 million task order to provide engineering, technical and program management support to the Naval Surface Warfare Center for submarine and surface ship signature silencing programs.

• Telos gets a task order under the $9 billion NETCENTS contract vehicle to provide secure messaging system for the DISA’s Defense Messaging System.

• Latvia christens Skrunda, its first twin-hull SWATH patrol boat. The design includes a small mission module section up front.

Too Late? Canada’s CASW for 40mm GMGs

Kandahar PRT

The infantry soldier is the center of gravity in current wars, and improvements to the individual soldier’s equipment and firepower overmatch often provide most bang for the buck to militaries wishing to make a difference on the ground. They’re not high profile purchases, however, which often creates neglect and delays. 40mm grenade weapons are an obvious choice, given their area suppression abilities and versatile ammunition. Grenade Machine Guns go beyond 1-shot rifle attachments and even beyond multi-shot weapons like the M-32/MSGL, providing medium-range, area effect firepower that decisively beats other infantry weapons within its reach.

The Americans have deployed 40mm GMGs from the outset of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, mostly General Dynamics’ Mk19. That inventory is modernizing, as the USA has begun buying General Dynamics’ new STRIKER 40, with programmed airburst features. Others have been slower. Britain addressed this gap back in 2006, when it began ordering Heckler & Koch GMG systems to equip its Royal Marines. Canada has been much slower to react, but 8 years after its troops entered Afghanistan, the Close Area Suppression Weapon (CASW) project aims to give Canadians the same options that other militaries already enjoy…

• The CASW Cock-Up
  
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
  
• Additional Readings [updated]