Boeing has agreed to acquire Argon ST for USD775 million in a deal value that exceeds previous estimates for the C4ISR specialist, reflecting strong rival bidding from Boeing’s peers. This acquisition reflect a shift by defense contractors seeking to accommodate a Pentagon that now wants high-tech intelligence tools as much or more than big guns [...]
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New Marine One (Boeing 101) will be too late for Obama
Since President Dwight Eisenhower started using them in the mid-1950s, helicopters have become a routine part of presidential life and the sight of the large green-and-white craft lifting off from the South Lawn of the White House a regular occurrence. Piloted by Marines, the chopper bearing the president goes by the call sign Marine One.
The [...]
Presidential Helo Competition Complicated
see also:
June, 15 Boeing & AgustaWestland Agreement
June, 7 Presidential Helicopter Neverending Story
May, 5 AgustaWestland Will Bid on New Marine One
April 19, Sikorsky, Lockheed team to bid for US presidential helicopter
The myriad industrial relationships broken and reforged for the newly relaunched U.S. presidential helicopter competition seem to represent a larger trend in defense manufacturing. It’s not the world [...]
ThalesRaytheonSystems to Modernize US Army AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel Radars
ThalesRaytheonSystems has been awarded a $21.8 million contract by the U.S. Army to upgrade multiple AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air defense radar systems. This award is an option to the existing upgrade contract originally awarded in June 2007.
The contract will upgrade the U.S. Army Sentinel radar transmitters, receivers and exciters and increase functional capabilities such as faster [...]
Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier: $140 M to DRS for Thermal Sights
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US PEO Soldier Initiative
Program Executive Officer (PEO) Soldier
Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI)
DRS Receives $140 M for Thermal Sights
About the Technology
Terry Murphy quote
1. US PEO Soldier Initiative
PEO Soldier’s vision is to be the center of excellence for delivering Soldier warfighting capability to dominate the battlefield across the full spectrum of war. PEO Soldier remains focused directly and [...]
DRS and Boeing to Sign Teaming Agreement for NewGen Tanker
DRS announced the teaming agreement for the NewGen Tanker program with The Boeing Company.
DRS will collaborate with Boeing on the console design and then manufacture the Aerial Refueling Operator Station, also known as AROS contingent upon Boeing receiving the contract from the United States Air Force. In addition, DRS will provide the interconnect design and [...]
BAE TSS: 95 M$ for security systems to control access to Army bases
BAE Systems has received a U.S. Army contract worth up to $95 million to install and maintain automated security systems to control access to Army bases and other installations. This award expands the company’s work in supporting physical security at government sites.
The automated installation entry systems use software and hardware to verify information on individuals [...]
DRS: 10 M$ for 71 MSTAR Man Portable Radars
DRS Sustainment Systems will deliver the Marine Corps 71 man portable surveillance target and acquisition radars (MSTAR), under a $9.7 million awarded by the U.S. Navy. The MSTAR is a component of the Ground-Based Operational Surveillance System (GBOSS). The MSTAR locates moving targets and uniquely classifies them as personnel on foot, tracked vehicles, or wheeled [...]
US Cyber Command Is Operational
U.S. Cyber Command, a subordinate unit of U.S. Strategic Command, is in its initial operating capability. The command is expected to be fully operational by October, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Rene White.
Army Gen. Keith Alexander, recently confirmed to lead the command, now officially steps into those shoes after receiving his fourth star Friday in a [...]
Little Progress Made On Afghan Surveillance Effort
Nine months after the Army’s U.S. Central Command formally declared that there was an “urgent need” for sophisticated electronic surveillance systems to be installed throughout Afghanistan to protect U.S. forward operating bases, little has happened, according to senior Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee.
At issue are tower-based systems designed to be placed around forward [...]
Deployable Airfield: 3,5 M$ to LM for Power Systems
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $3.5 million contract to develop the Integrated Smart-BEAR Power System (ISBPS) for the U.S. Air Force. The Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR) program equips U.S. forces with lightweight, air-transportable assets used to establish mobile air bases. ISBPS is an intelligent system that will integrate a variety of energy sources, [...]
US Navy’s Dual Band Radar Achieves X- and S-Band Milestone
For the first time, the U.S. Navy has successfully tracked targets with a multiband radar featuring a common radar suite controller.
This milestone, which took place at the Navy’s Engineering Test Center, Wallops Island, Va., was accomplished through the use of an engineering development model of the Dual Band Radar (DBR) developed by the Navy’s prime [...]
US Navy Awards NGC 41.4 M$ as part of a five-year 281.5 M$ contract for Shipboard Multimission Radar Systems
Northrop Grumman Corporation has received a follow-on order from the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command for additional AN/SPQ-9B shipboard radar systems.
Under the fixed-price $41.4 million contract option, Northrop Grumman’s Maritime Systems facility in Melville, N.Y., will supply six radar shipsets, including the third radar of a three-system procurement for the Royal Australian Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyer, [...]
Fincantieri and Boeing Strengthen Their Team in Bid for US Navy Hovercraft
Marinette Marine Corporation (MMC), Fincantieri’s US subsidiary, and Boeing have announced that Oceaneering International are to enter the team set up a year ago with a view to competing for the imminent tender for the “Ship-to-Shore Connector” (SSC) program which provides for the construction of 80 new generation hovercraft for the US Navy. The announcement [...]
DoD Proposes Conflicts-of-Interest Rule for Procurements
The U.S. Defense Department on April 22 released a long-anticipated proposed rule outlining how it will police conflicts of interest in procurement.
The proposed rule on organizational conflicts of interest is part of the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, made law in May 2009. The act directed DoD to create consistent guidance on conflicts resulting from [...]
Sikorsky, Lockheed team to bid for US presidential helicopter
Lockheed sees possible US Navy award in 2011 or 2012
Lockheed still negotiating termination of VH-71 (AgustaWestland/Finmeccanica) with Navy
Former rivals Sikorsky Aircraft and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) said they would join forces in a follow-on U.S. Navy presidential helicopter competition even as Lockheed continued to negotiate a settlement over termination of the previous program.
Under the teaming agreement, [...]
LCS: proposal from Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin-led industry team submitted its proposal for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fiscal year 2010-2014 contract to the U.S. Navy today.
Lockheed Martin is one of two industry teams competing for the contract. The Navy will award the winning team a fixed-price incentive fee contract to provide up to 10 ships as well as [...]
Aptima’s Software to Support U.S. Navy’s Distributed, Multi-simulator Training
As net centric warfare changes the nature of air and combat operations, the U.S. Navy is modernizing its aviation training, combining its various simulators into a unified platform to better replicate these complex missions. To improve the training value of these networked exercises, Aptima, the R&D firm specializing in human-centered engineering, is providing the Navy [...]
SAIC: 84M$ to Support Naval Air Systems Command
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a contract by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) to support the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Corporate Operations and Comptroller Offices with a full range of organizational and business services. The multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options [...]
USS Ashland Captures Pirates
Three events over the past ten days have allowed the U.S. Navy to capture a total of 21 suspected pirates
At approximately 5:00 a.m. local time, the USS Ashland (LSD 48), was fired upon by a skiff manned by suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden, approximately 330 nautical miles off the coast of Djibouti.
During the [...]
EADS NA and Infoterra: 85M$ contract to supply radar satellite data for intelligence, military and homeland security
EADS North America has received a five-year contract to provide commercial radar satellite data to the U.S. government’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for use in intelligence, military and homeland security applications.
The data will be provided by the geo-information service provider, Infoterra GmbH, an EADS Astrium subsidiary that holds the commercial exploitation rights for the German [...]
Problems with LCS ships ?
The U.S. Navy sees the launch and recovery of smaller boats as a “major risk” to both competing designs for its new Littoral Combat Ship program, a congressional watchdog agency said on Tuesday.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the research arm of Congress, said the Navy’s risk assessment was troubling, given that watercraft launch and recovery [...]
DRS Technical Services: 77 M$ for C2 Technical Assistance to United States Forces-Iraq
DRS Technical Services, Inc., Finmeccanica Group, announced that its Tactical Services & Network Solutions business unit was awarded a contract for approximately $77 million to provide technical assistance to the United States Army and allies as they withdraw from the country of Iraq.
Under terms of the award, DRS will continue to support the transition of [...]
Loser To Fight In LCS Deal?
Analysts say high-stakes competition pitting Austal against Lockheed Martin could end with protest similar to tanker contest
By the Navy’s calendar, a winner-take-all order for up to 10 new littoral combat ships is supposed to be awarded this summer, with Mobile-based Austal USA’s future prospects heavily staked to the outcome. But that award may not be [...]
US NAVY LCS: life-cycle cost is a major problem
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said yesterday the service is keeping a mid-April deadline for industry bids on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), amid concerns about the losing shipbuilder protesting the contract award and a call from one side to delay the schedule.
Some observers predict the loser of the two-way contest between Lockheed Martin and General [...]
CACI: 219 M$ in C4ISR and IT Services
Award by Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic Continues Company’s Role as Provider of Critically Important Services
CACI International Inc announced today that it has been awarded a $219 million prime contract to provide command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (C4ISR) and business IT software and maintenance services to the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) [...]
No MEADS Decision From U.S. Army-MDA Meeting
Senior U.S. Army officials who met with representatives from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) March 10 reached no decision on whether to transfer management of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program to the agency, according to a defense official.
Instead, senior officials from both organizations agreed that follow-up questions needed to be answered and [...]
Training, Investment Create Sustainable Afghan Army
Training and financial investment are critical to helping Afghanistan’s security forces become self-sufficient, a senior participant in the effort said.
Army Brig. Gen. Gary Patton, the deputy commanding general for programs with Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, shared his insights during a March 6 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable on how U.S. and NATO forces are supporting the [...]
USDoD New Cyber-Security Rules For Unclassified Data
The U.S. Defense Department, the target of 300 million attempts daily to probe its computer networks, wants to require its contractors to report hacking that compromises sensitive information.
Under a proposed regulation, companies would have to report the breach within 72 hours, preserve evidence and assist with the investigation. The proposal also would require companies to [...]
Northrop Considers Bid for U.S. Navy’s LCS
Northrop Grumman is examining both competing Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) designs with an eye to possibly bidding as a second-source shipyard to build the small, fast warships for the U.S. Navy, the company’s top shipbuilder said Wednesday.
“We’re interested, we’re looking at both programs,” Mike Petters, head of Northrop Grumman shipbuilding, told Congress towards the end [...]