AIR FORCE FedCon/South Bay Joint Venture, San Antonio, Texas, (FA3089-13-D-0001) is being awarded a $75,000,000 multiple award construction contract for general construction category to include maintenance, repair, alteration, mechanical, electrical, heating/air conditioning, demolition, painting, paving and earthwork. The location of the performance is Randolph AFB, Texas. The work is expected to be completed by Jan. 4, 2018. The contracting activity is 902 CONS/LGCA, Randolph AFB, Texas.
The Pentagon wants to improve the way it audits closeouts of major contracts to curb financial risks to the Defense Department. The department has a large volume of contracts that have not been closed on time, confirms a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, noting that closing a contract includes tasks such as verifying that the goods and services were provided and making final payment to the contractor.
LONDON — Airbus Military has confirmed that it has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Indian air force’s (IAF) aerial refueling tanker program. India is discussing the purchase of six aircraft in a deal worth around $1 billion. India selected the Airbus A330 multirole tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft over the Russian-built Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft, a variant of the Il-76 transport plane already in service with the IAF.
ABOARD THE USS FREEDOM — At near 40 kt. the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom creates a “rooster tail” of water out of its stern strong enough to swamp small boats and knock people off the vessels. “The rooster tail is a weapon,” says Joe Shifflett, who manages the LCS Navy training center in San Diego. Cruisers and destroyers have used wakes to disrupt small craft in the past, but neither of those vessels — in fact, nothing else in the U.S. Navy fleet — creates the hydrant-like spray the way an LCS can.
NEW DEHLI — India’s armed forces will soon field advanced multi-caliber artillery guns as part of their modernization drive. The guns, being developed by a unit of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), will fulfill requirements of the Indian army for loading and firing both small and large munitions, DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat says. Each artillery gun will feature multiple barrels for loading and firing different sizes of shells.
Unmanned vehicle operations could benefit from research and development of more efficient ways to compress sensor data, according to a recent report by the so-called Jason group, the independent scientific advisory panel that provides consulting services to the U.S. government on matters of defense science and technology.
The U.S. Navy expects to see better allocation of — rather than an increase in — maintenance funding in response to proposed additional ship reviews by the Board of Inspection and Survey (Insurv), which has unveiled plans to double its vessel inspections.
The U.S. Department of Defense is finding it more difficult to move its equipment and materiel out of Afghanistan than when it faced a similar drawdown in Iraq. The Pentagon says it has more than 750,000 “major-end items” worth more than $36 billion in Afghanistan and estimates the cost of transferring equipment out of that country could reach about $5.7 billion because of logistical and geopolitical hurdles.
SAN DIEGO — While the U.S. Navy brass says its new Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will be combat ready, the debate still goes on concerning what kind and what degree of combat the ships are truly designed for. Over the past two years, defense analysts and Pentagon evaluators have called into question the ships’ combat value. The Navy brass has recently sought to squelch such questions, saying the LCS vessels — and perhaps other Navy ships or assets — will have to brave more combat than in the past.
As the incoming top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.), sees his top priority as avoiding cuts to the defense budget under sequestration. Those cut are scheduled to be implemented in late March, unless Congress acts before that time.
in and out: Everyone makes mistakes. Republican lawmakers wanted a two-month notification of any further cuts to the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and they wanted the White House to certify that Russia is keeping up its end. But in the mess of end-of-the-year lawmaking, the key word “strategic” was left out of 2013 defense authorization bill pased last month, meaning the Obama administration would have to certify far more than anyone intended.
IRIS-T: Diehl Defense’s surface-launched IRIS-T SL missile has engaged a target for the first time. A prototype missile was fired at a target drone at the Overberg Test Range in South Africa, watched by representatives of German state authorities. Reports from Sweden suggest the IRIS-T SL has been chosen as the next-generation surface-to-air missile for the Swedish military to replace the Saab-built RBS-70 weapon.
NEW DELHI — India’s ambitious modernization of its armed forces is likely to be slowed by the federal government’s decision to slash funding for defense acquisition. A defense ministry official indicates that the government has cut defense spending by about 5% from the allocated 1.93 trillion rupees ($38.6 billion), mainly due to the ongoing economic downturn. “Several key acquisition plans, including the procurement of 126 combat aircraft for the Indian air force, are expected to be pushed for the next financial year,” the official says.
The next round of discussions about how to prevent across-the-board cuts from falling on the Defense Department is now beginning, just after President Obama signed into law an act that delays them until March. Members of the armed services committees, particularly on the Republican side, will be trying to reduce the deficit while sparing the Pentagon. But an industry analyst envisions the eventual cut to defense would be about half of the $55 billion annual reduction recommended by sequestration.
LONDON — Germany has begun the process of re-aligning its helicopter forces as part of the on-going reorganization of the country’s armed forces. The changes, which are due to be completed in January, sees German Army Aviation taking on the tactical airlift role from the air force.
LONDON — After success in Denmark, Sikorsky’s MH-60R Seahawk seems set for another export order from South Korea. Reports from the country suggest the Seahawk has come out on top in a South Korea navy competition for a new fleet of shipborne maritime helicopters, beating back competition from incumbent AgustaWestland and its new AW159 Wildcat. Navy officials said that following evaluations in September the Seahawk “earned higher marks for its loading capacity and power output.”
The U.S. Navy is expected to spend about $31.9 billion for F-18-related programs between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2017, which would be about the same amount that the service spent for all fixed-wing aircraft during a similar period of time ending in the previous decade.
Led by new production of AH-64 Apaches and continued work on CH-47D/F Chinooks, Boeing delivered 144 military aircraft in 2012, including 34 in the fourth quarter. In 2011, Boeing’s production facilities worked on only rebuilt Apaches, so 2012’s 19 new-build deliveries of the attack helicopter are notable. At the same time, the company’s new Chinook assembly line in Philadelphia turned out 51 of the twin-rotor transport helicopters last year, up from 32 in 2011. The Chinook program celebrated its 50th year in production last August.
LONDON — Airbus Military has begun flight tests of new winglets for its C295 twin-engine transport aircraft. According to the company, the winglets are just one in a series of developments under way on the aircraft and are designed to improve takeoff, climb and cruise performance.