NEW DELHI — India’s defense ministry has unveiled a new set of rules aimed at boosting the country’s indigenous defense industry by making procurement from foreign vendors only a last option. The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), the top decision-making body of India’s defense ministry, has cleared amendments to the Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) to give priority to domestic public and private sector firms for major military procurements, thus reducing the country’s dependence on imports.
AIR FORCE United Launch Services, Centennial, Colo., was awarded a $16,895,621 firm-fixed-price contract modification (P00092) for cost-plus, incentive-fee contract (FA8811-11-C-0002) for EELV launch capability. The contract modification pays the fiscal 2013 Atlas Capital depreciation portion of the total cost recoverable previously determined to be recovered over a 15-year period. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013. The contracting activity is Launch and Range Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
The Pentagon’s proposed $10 billion arms sale package to Middle East allies is “one of the most complex and carefully orchestrated arms sale packages in American history,” a senior defense official said while briefing reporters on the deal last week.
AIR FORCE BAE Systems Information and Electronics Systems Integration Inc., Greenlawn, N.Y., is being awarded a $34,278,736 firm-fixed-price contract for 336 AN/APX-125 F-16 Mode 5 Advanced Identify Friend/Foe units. The work will be performed at Greenlawn, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2015. The contract involves foreign military sales. The contracting activity is Air Force Life Cycle Management Center /WWMK, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, (FA8615-13-C-6014).
LONDON — AgustaWestland and Embraer say they have terminated plans for a helicopter production joint venture in Brazil. On April 22, the two companies said: “Following the press release jointly issued on 21st January 2013 related to the memorandum of understanding signed by Embraer S.A. and AgustaWestland, the two companies announce today their joint decision to terminate negotiations without reaching an agreement for the establishment of a Joint Venture in Brazil.” The companies did not say why the deal was halted.
ARMY Technology Service Corp., Silver Spring, Md., was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a maximum value of $19,000,000 for the development of a route optimization for survivability against sensors system. The work will be performed in Fort Eustis, Va. Fiscal 2013 Research, Development, Technology and Evaluation contract funds are being obligated on this award. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The Army Contracting Command, Fort Eustis is the contracting activity (W911W6-13-D-0010).
The 2011 Budget Control Act’s sequestration cuts starting this year, if not reversed or overcome, will take an “insidious” toll on national intelligence capabilities, according to the director of national intelligence (DNI).
DEFENSE BUSINESS: The Pentagon’s Defense Business Board (DBB) advisory group on April 25 will mull over and possibly vote on draft recommendations that ultimately could help reshape the Defense Department’s bureaucracy. The board will consider its study, “Applying Best Business Practices for Corporate Performance Management to DOD.” Pentagon officials had asked the board to look into how successful, large and complex corporations plan, manage and achieve peak performance on an ongoing basis, but especially during periods of reduced resources.
LONDON — The U.K. defense ministry is hoping to purchase its first full squadron of Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters by year’s end. The ministry wants to order 14 F-35Bs to start forming the first operational squadrons by the end of this decade. But the decision, known as Main Gate 4, needs approval from the Treasury, BAE Systems officials say.
The U.S. Navy must continue to focus on its Pacific Pivot and other global deployments even as it grapples with the effects of budget cuts, says Secretary Ray Mabus. “We must remember that isolationism just isn’t an option” he says.” We are the world’s only global navy. The United States Navy and Marine Corps are our nation’s away team, and we have to be forward-deployed in order to defend the American people and protect our national interests.”
The U.S. Marine Corps should make the K-Max unmanned helicopter part of its core equipment, according to Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus, commanding general of the I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward and commander, Regional Command – Southwest. “I hope it’s going to be a part of inventory everywhere we go,” he says – especially as the Corps and the rest of the military make the Pacific pivot and shift resources toward Asian regions. “For ship-to-shore [operations], it’s a vital piece of gear,” he said April 18 during a breakfast with media.
Deliveries of transmissions to Boeing for installation in the company’s AH-64 Apache Block III attack helicopters are running behind schedule, but the U.S. Army says, “there is nothing wrong with the Apache transmission,” in response to a question raised by congressional staffers and government auditors about its suitability for the aircraft. Transmission maker Northstar Aerospace experienced financial problems last year before being purchased by Wynnchurch Capital, a private equity firm. Though on more sound ground now, the company is trying to catch up.
The Pentagon’s decision to terminate the Precision Tracking Space System (PTSS) raises the specter of a potential gap in U.S. ability to track ballistic missiles in the midcourse phase of flight.
SINGAPORE — New Zealand has decided to buy eight secondhand Kaman Seasprite SH-2G(I) naval helicopters for $15 million each, the government says. The deal’s total worth is $242 million, with the helos costing $120 million. The package also includes two spare airframes, missiles, a flight simulator, ship deck-lock modification, additional components, testing and introduction into service activities, the government says.
SATELLITE CONTROL: Congressional auditors see the U.S. military’s almost $14 billion worth of satellite control networks as ripe for consolidation. In an April 18 report, the Government Accountability Office recommended the Office of the Secretary of Defense direct future defense satellite acquisition programs to create a business case for proceeding with either a dedicated or shared network for that program’s satellite control operations, as well as develop a department-wide, long-term plan for modernizing the Air Force Satellite Control Network.
As he was recently discussing the pivot of U.S. strategic emphasis to the Asia-Pacific region, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter repeated an assertion that the U.S. spends more on defense “than the next 16 largest militaries combined.” While Carter's talking point is more or less technically correct, such a comparison does not indicate what an appropriate level of spending should be. A more useful way to think about U.S.
